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WHAT    MAKES    LIFE 
Wo  R  T  H  LIVING? 


A  Series  of  Eight  Fri- 
day Evening  Discourses 
Delivered  before 

CONGREGATION 
BETH  ISRAEL 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 
During  the  Winter  5664  ('03-' 04) 
BY  RABBI  M.  M.  EICHLER 


Published  by  the    Beth   Israel   Culture  Association 


1904 

KLI8HING    COM 
\V  YORK 


What  Makes  Life 

Worth  Living? 


DELIVERED  BEFORE 


Congregation  Beth  Israel, 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

During   the  Winter   5664  ('03-' 04), 
By  RABBI  M.  M.  EICHLER, 


PUBLISHED  BY 


THE  BETH  ISRAEL  CULTURE  ASSOCIATION. 


1901 

BLOCK  PUBLISHING  COMPANY, 
NEW  YORK. 


THE  B.  I.  C.  A.  PUBLICATION  COMMITTEE. 

ARTHUR  COHEN,   Chairman, 
2355  N.  Van  Pelt  Street,  Philadelphia. 

PAULINE  SCHWERIN,  FELIX  BACK. 


WALTHER  PRINT,  S.  E.  Cor.  Third  St.  and  Girard  Ave. 
PHILADELPHIA. 


Stack 

Annex 

00 

5~OT) 
80*3 


CONTENTS. 


Page 

I.  Is  Life  Worth  Living? 5 

II.  Education 12 

III.  Literature , 18 

IV.  Home    .....                                                25 

V.  Hope 31 

VI.  The  Blessings  of  Religion 37 

VII.  Work  —A  Duty  and  a  Blessing 44 

VIII.  Rest  .  50 


IS    LIFE   WORTH    LIVING? 


TEXT:— "Therefore  I  hated  life;  because  I  felt  displeased  with  the 
work  that  is  wrought  under  the  sun ;  for  all  is  vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit. ' ' 
—  (Ecclesiastes  II,  17.) 

"Is  life  worth  living?"— is  the  question  that  rises  in  the 
minds  of  thinking  men  and  women  at  serious  moments.  To  the 
thoughtless  and  frivolous  the  question  will  never  occur.  To 
those  who  never  knew  any  sorrow  and  whose  path  was  never 
crossed  by  some  calamity  this  query  will  have  but  little  signi- 
ficance. But  those  who  tasted  the  bitterness  of  life  and  walked 
in  the  darkness  of  adversity  have  often  asked  themselves 
"What  is  it  all  for?  Does  life  contain  sufficient  good  to  com- 
pensate for  the  multitude  of  evil  it  harbors  ?  Is  its  prize  precious 
enough  to  justify  the  infinite  toil  it  demands  ?  Is  its  reward  rich 
enough  to  pay  for  the  unceasing  struggle,  the  never  ending 
anguish,  the  eternal  vexation  of  spirit?"  These  are  questions 
that  involuntarily  come  forth  from  a  breast  overflowing  with 
grief.  Man  stands  at  the  grave  of  a  beloved  one  whose  existence 
was  a  source  of  perennial  sunshine  to  him.  While  the  friend  is 
laid  in  the  cold  earth  he  feels  that  his  soul  too  has  become  empty 
and  cold  and  that  life  for  him  has  become  aimless.  Can  we  blame 
him  when  in  that  dark  hour  he  expresses  the  doubt,  whether  to 
him,  life  is  worth  living?  Or,  may  be,  a  great  disappointment 
deprived  him  of  the  zest  for  life ;  a  long  cherished  hope  in  which 
the  toil  and  endeavor  of  years  were  centred  has,  in  one  moment, 
vanished  like  smoke ;  an  ambition  nursed  tenderly  through  weary 
years  of  privation  and  suffering  has  been  at  the  verge  of  reali- 
zation, and  in  one  sad  hour  its  fulfillment  was  for  ever  made  im- 
possible. It  is  natural  that  in  such  sad  moments  men  should 
exclaim  with  Koheleth  "All  is  vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit." 

But  there  are  other  occasions  when  we  are  tempted  to  doubt 
the  use  of  life.  We  look  around  in  the  world  and  behold  an 
abundance  of  injustice  and  evil.  Truth  is  crushed  to  earth, 
while  falsehood  struts  along  triumphantly.  The  powers  of  evil 
and  corruption  hold  sway  over  the  human  heart  and  over  human 
society.  All  efforts  to  exalt  and  purify  the  race  meet  with  re- 


6  I>     LIKE     WORTH     LIVING? 

buffs.  Progress  in  the  moral  and  religious  realms  is  slow  and 
hardly  perceptible.  Seeing  all  this  we  become  disheartened  and 
we  ask  again  "Is  life  worth  living?"  Is  it  worth  while  to  strive 
for  justice  and  righteousness,  when  the  goal  remains  for  ever  dis- 
tant and  unapproachable? 

We  witness  the  closing  scene  of  a  great  and  successful 
career.  We  see  how  honor,  wealth,  wisdom  and  power  culminate 
in  a  little  hillock  of  dust.  Before  nature  had  a  chance  of  benev- 
olently covering  the  grave  with  green  sod  its  tenant  has  been 
forgotten.  Of  what  use  are  to  him  glory,  knowledge,  fame, 
triumphs,  success?  Was  life  even  at  its  best  worth  living? 
With  Shakespeare  we  are  apt  to  say : 

' '  Life 's  but  a  walking  shadow,  a  poor  player, 

That  struts  and  frets  his  hour  upon  the  stage, 

And  then  is  heard  no  more;  it  is  a  tale  told  by  an  idiot, 

Full  of  sound  and  fury,  signifying  nothing. "— (Macbeth.) 

"Is  life  worth  living?"  -The  question  has  been  asked  at 
various  epochs  of  mankind's  history  and  answered  both  in  the 
affirmative  and  in  the  negative.  "No"— says  the  pessimist,— 
"Life  is  a  failure,"  and  putting  on  sackcloth,  with  Job,  he  curses 
the  day  on  which  he  saw  the  light,  and  says  with  Koheleth:  "I 
hated  life  because  I  felt  displeased  with  the  work  that  is  wrought 
under  the  sun,  for  all  is  vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit." 

"Is  life  worth  living?"— "Yes,"  replies  the  Epicurean, 
but  only  to  gratify  the  sensual  appetites,  for  there  is  no  nobler 
purpose  of  human  existence  than  to  enjoy  the  pleasures  that  the 
fleeting  moment  deposits  in  our  lap.  Thus  making  his  motto 
"Let  us  eat  and  drink  for  to-morrow  we  shall  die,"  he  lives  as 
if  the  world  were  a  huge  farce. 

"Is  life  worth  living?"  "Hardly,"  answers  the  Ascetic, — 
"Life  is  a  bundle  of  errors."  Lest  he  be  contaminated  by  its 
impurities  he  withdraws  into  the  lonely  forest  and  lives  in  the 
cave  a  crippled  and  stunted  existence. 

But  turning  away  from  the  pessimist,  the  grief -stricken,  the 
epicurean  and  the  ascetic,  we  anxiously  inquire  again,  "Is  life 
worth  living?"  Faith,  revelation,  reason  and  experience  all 
unite  in  giving  us  this  reply :  Life  is  worth  living  if  you  make 
it  so.  You  can  live  so  as  to  render  your  life  a  burden  to  your- 
self and  a  curse  to  others,— and  then  it  is  not  worth  living;  or 
you  can  mould  it  into  a  beautiful  form,  a  source  of  joy  to  your- 
self and  of  blessing  to  others,— and  then  indeed,  it  is  worth 


IS     LIFE    WORTH     LIVING?  7 

living.  The  value  of  life  depends  upon  its  aims  and  ideals.  It 
is  not  determined  by  the  success  or  failure  that  comes  from  with- 
out, but  by  the  purposes  and  motives  that-  are  within.  Millions 
have  lived  and  died  whose  existence  was  as  useless  and  aimless 
as  the  chaff  that  is  driven  by  the  wind  and  who  left  no  more  trace 
behind  them  than  the  pebble  cast  into  the  water.  Countless  are 
those  who  to-day  exist  in  human  society  whose  life  is  empty,  vain 
and  wasted  because  they  fail  to  grasp  its  meaning  and  .its  true 
significance.  A  life  of  selfishness  is  not  worth  living.  A  life 
centred  in  itself  is  like  a  tree  that  bears  no  fruit,  a  useless  and 
profitless  thing.  Says  a  writer,  "The  man  who  is  not  conscious 
of  an  obligation  to  leave  something  better  in  the  world  at  his 
death  than  was  to  be  found  there  at  his  birth  does  not  understand 
the  highest  purpose  of  life." 

A  life  of  avarice  is  not  worth  living;  money-getting  is  all 
very  well  and  no  one  can  depreciate  the  value  of  money  as  a 
means  of  getting  on  in  the  world  and  of  doing  good.  But  when 
money-getting  becomes  an  end,  when  it  becomes  the  central  ob- 
ject and  aim  of  existence ;  when  in  its  pursuit  the  higher  things 
are  neglected  and  the  soul  is  dwarfed,  then  it  is  the  worst  of 
vices  and  the  root  of  all  evil.  A  life  spent  in  accumulating 
worldly  treasures  for  their  own  sake  is  ill-spent  and  wasted  and 
of  use  to  no  one, — not  even  to  the  unfortunate  slave  of  Mammon 
himself. 

A  life  devoted  to  pleasure  is  not  worth  living.  Not  only  is 
such  life  extremely  narrow  and  selfish,  but  it  also  defeats  its  own 
ends  and  brings  neither  contentment  nor  happiness.  The  man 
who  lives  for  his  appetites  is  far  from  being  happy,  nay,  he  is  a 
slave  to  his  passions,  which  rule  him  and  eventually  bring  him 
to  destruction. 

A  life  of  ignorance  is  not  worth  living.  It  is  not  supposed 
that  everybody  should  have  diplomas  from  colleges  and  universi- 
ties. These  are  not  absolutely  necessary,  and  a  man  can  be  useful 
without  knowing  many  languages  and  the  arts  and  the  sciences. 
But  to  go  through  life  without  intellectual  and  spiritual  self- 
improvement,  is  throwing  away  the  most  precious  pearls  and 
being  content  with  picking  up  the  empty  shells. 

A  life  of  irreligion  and  sin  is  not  worth  living.  I  care  not 
how  learned  and  accomplished,  how  successful  and  well-to-do  a 
man  is,  if  he  lives  in  rebellion  against  the  will  of  God  and  shuts 
out  religion  and  virtue  from  his  heart,  his  life  is  wasted— a  fail- 
ure of  failures.  It  would  be  better  for  him  not  to  have  been 


8  IS    LIFE    WORTH    LIVING  ? 

born  than  to  live  a  Godless  life,  without  that  element  which 
sanctifies,  elevates  and  ennobles  existence,  and  without  which 
man  is  on  a  level  with  the  brute. 

This,  then,  my  friends,  is  my  message  to  you  to-night.  Life 
is  a  precious  boon  which  is  given  to  man  in  order  that  he  im- 
prove it,  elevate  it,  and  make  it  "a  thing  of  beauty  and  joy  for- 
ever. ' '  I  wish  you  to  be  impressed  with  the  truth  that  life  is  neither 
a  comedy  nor  a  tragedy ;  that  it  is  neither  a  banqueting  hall  nor 
a  dungeon;  that  it  is  rather  a  field  where  the  industrious  can 
sow  precious  seeds  and  reap  golden  harvests  and  where  the  in- 
dolent stand  idle  and  lament  because  of  the  thistles  that  spring 
up  about  them.  I  believe  that  life  is  a  blessing,  a  joy,  a  delight, 
to  those  who  understand  how  to  live  and  have  the  moral  courage 
to  walk  in  the  direction  whither  wisdom  points.  I  believe  that 
this  world  is  not  a  valley  of  tears  to  those  who  endeavor  to  lift 
themselves  from  the  low  level  of  selfishness,  avarice,  self-indulg- 
ence, ignorance  and  sin,  and  who  occasionally  gaze  upward  to 
the  realms  of  idealism  and  spirituality.  I  have  this  joyous,  op- 
timistic, exalted  and  hopeful  view  of  life  because  I  believe  that 
there  is  a  God  in  Heaven  who  rules  the  earth,  and  because  I  am 
convinced  that  God  is  good  and  has  breathed  the  spirit  of  good- 
ness and  happiness  upon  His  handiwork. 

"Will  you  ask  me  what,  then,  is  the  meaning  of  all  this  suffer- 
ing and  pain  that  surround  us  ?  What  is  the  significance  of  the 
wailing  and  sobbing  that  so  frequently  fill  the  air  ?  Why  do  be- 
reavement and  sorrow  wither  our  choicest  flowers  ?  Why  do  mis- 
fortune and  sickness  cast  a  gloom  upon  our  sky?  Why  do  injus- 
tice and  oppression  occupy  the  honored  places,  while  sincerity  and 
truth  are  pushed  into  the  background  ?  Then  I  answer  with  the 
great  bard:  "The  web  of  our  life  is  of  a  mingled  yarn,  good 
and  ill  together."  I  cannot  deny  the  existence  of  evil  in  this 
world,  nor  do  I  ignore  the  troubles  and  sorrows  of  life.  But 
what  I  do  desire  to  emphasize  is :— first,  that  there  is  also  plenty 
of  happiness,  and,  second,  that  the  greatest  part  of  the  troubles 
of  life  is  of  our  own  making.  We  are  extremely  ungrateful 
when  we  continually  grumble  about  the  sorrows  that  sometimes 
visit  us  and  forget  the  joys  that  gladdened  us  for  years.  While 
weeks  of  fair  weather  will  pass  without  a  comment,  one  hour's 
storm  will  evoke  a  volley  of  complaint  from  our  breasts.  The 
years  of  plenty  are  soon  forgotten  in  the  years  of  want.  It  is 
like  the  story  books  we  read,  where  hundreds  of  pages  are  filled 
with  the  struggles  and  dangers  of  the  hero  and  heroine,  and  one 


IS    LIFE    WORTH     LIVING  ?  9 

line  suffices  to  state  that  ' '  They  were  happy  and  lived  to  a  good 
old  age." 

There  certainly  is  a  good  deal  of  misery  in  this  world,  but 
subtract  from  it  the  misfortunes  that  men  bring  upon  them- 
selves; the  ills  that  are  caused  by  ignorance,  immorality,  excess 
and  f oolhardiness ;  discount  the  pains  and  aches  resulting  from 
disobedience  to  the  laws  of  nature  and  of  nature 's  God ;  count  off 
the  thousands  of  unnatural  shocks  that  flesh  would  not  be  heir 
to,  if  not  subjected  to  by  vice,  by  indolence  and  by  over-indul- 
gence, and  the  sum  total  of  human  woe  will  not  be  as  dishearten- 
ing as  the  jiisgruntled  pessimists  would  have  us  believe.  Fortune 
certainly  hurls  its  slings  and  arrows  at  us,  but  none  are  so  dan- 
gerous as  not  to  be  made  harmless  by  the  armor  of  faith.  The 
darkness  of  error  may  be  ever  so  great,  yet  the  sunshine  of 
knowledge  and  wisdom  can  scatter  it.  No  pain  is  so  agonizing 
as  not  to  be  relieved  by  the  balm  of  hope;  no  obstacles  are  so 
insurmountable  as  not  to  be  overcome  by  unfaltering  courage. 
Well  has  it  been  said  by  Southey,  ' '  A  good  man  and  a  wise  man 
may  at  times  be  angry  with  the  world,  at  times  grieve  for  it ;  but 
be  sure  no  man  was  ever  discontented  with  the  world  who  did  his 
duty  in  it." 

Let  then  this  be  our  answer  to  the  question,  "Is  life  worth 
living?"  Yes,  life  is  worth  living  to  those  who  set  a  noble  pur- 
pose before  themselves.  Life  is  worth  living  to  those  who  strive 
to  secure  the  highest  and  most  harmonious  development  of  their 
powers;  it  is  worth  living  to  those  who  are  of  some  use  to  their 
fellow-men,  who  live  for  something  higher  than  the  gratification 
of  their  own  desires,  who  try  to  comfort  the  sorrowing,  help  the 
distressed,  uplift  the  fallen,  feed  the  hungry,  clothe  the  naked, 
encourage  the  despondent  and  pour  a  little  sunshine  into  hearts 
bedimmed  with  gloom  and  grief;  and  finally,  it  is  worth  living 
to  those  who  feel  that  above  this  world  of  vanity  there  is  a  great 
and  everlasting  reality,  that  God  is  the  all-pervading  spirit  of 
the  universe;  and  to  those  whose  faith  in  God  is  sufficiently 
strong  to  guide  them  through  the  rocky  and  thorny  paths  of 
existence.  "The  riddle  of  the  world  is  understood  only  by  him 
who  feels  that  God  is  good." 

My  friends,  let  me  relate  to  you  an  old  Arabian  legend: 
*King  Nimrod  one  day  summoned  his  three  sons  and  ordered 
three  urns  under  seal  to  be  set  before  them;  one  was  of  gold, 


*  From  B&xeodale'l  Dictionary  of  Anecdote. 


10  IS    LIFE    WORTH    LIVING? 

the  other  of  amber,  the  third  of  clay.  The  King  bade  the  eldest 
of  his  sons  to  choose  that  which  appears  to  contain  the  treasure 
of  greatest  price.  He  chose  the  vase  of  gold,  upon  which  was 
written  EMPIRE,  opened  it  and  found  it  full  of  blood.  The  sec- 
ond took  the  vase  of  amber  on  which  was  written  the  word 
GLORY,  opened  it  and  found  it  full  of  the  ashes  of  men  who  made 
a  great  sensation  in  life.  The  third  took  the  clay  vase  remain- 
ing, opened  it  and  found  it  empty,  but  on  the  bottom  the  potter 
had  inscribed  the  name  of  GOD.  "Which  of  these  vases  weighs 
the  most?"  asked  the  King  of  his  courtiers.  The  men  of  ambi- 
tion replied  the  vase  of  gold.  The  poets  and  conquerors  said  the 
amber  one,  but  the  sages  pointed  to  the  empty  vase  because  a 
single  letter  of  the  name  of  God  was  of  more  weight  than  the 
entire  globe." 

Oh,  my  friends,  take  the  lesson,  choose  a  worthy  aim  for 
your  life  and  then,  and  only  then,  will  it  contain  happiness  and 
contentment  for  you.  Some  of  you  may  dream  of  the  empire 
of  gold ;  to  get  a  fortune  may  be  the  utmost  desire  of  your  ambi- 
tion; for  the  almighty  dollar  you  are  willing  to  sacrifice  the 
nobler  aspects  and  aims  of  humanity.  You  spend  your  strength, 
your  energy,  your  time  in  the  vain  chase  after  gold,  thinking 
that  thereof  is  made  the  key  to  happiness.  But  beware,  it  may 
prove  a  snare  to  you.— Open  the  golden  vase  and  you  will  find 
it  full  of  blood. 

You  may  dream  of  glory,  of  might,  of  power,  of  fame.  You 
care  not  at  what  cost,  you  would  like  to  win  the  applause  of  your 
fellow-men  and  bask  in  the  sunshine  of  popular  admiration.  For 
the  cap  and  bells  of  renown  and  honor,  you  are  satisfied  to  sell 
your  lives.  You  envy  the  splendor,  the  fame  and  the  glory  of 
those  whose  names  are  heralded  abroad  and  inscribed  in  marble 
and  bronze,  but  you  forget  that  the  end  of  all  glory  and  honor 
and  worldly  success  are  dust  and  ashes.  You  open  the  vase  of 
amber  and  you  find  that  it  is  full  of  the  ashes  of  men  of  great 
renown. 

Oh,  choose,  therefore,  the  vase  upon  which  there  is  inscribed 
the  name  of  God  and  you  will  have  chosen  well.  You  will  then 
discover  the  solution  to  the  riddle  that  puzzles  us,  the  riddle  of 
this  life;  you  shall  then  possess  a  compass  to  guide  you  through 
this  labyrinth  where  so  many  lose  their  bearings  and  become 
filled  with  despair;  you  will  then  have  found  the  main  and  all- 
embracing  purpose  which  does  make  life  worth  living. 


IS     LIFE    WORTH     LIVING?  11 

My  friends,  I  shall  endeavor  in  subsequent  lectures  to  pre- 
sent to  you  in  detail  some  of  the  things  that  make  life  worth  liv- 
ing. We  shall  treat  some  of  the  great  aims  and  objects  to  which 
the  lives  of  the  noblest  men  and  women  have  been  consecrated 
and  wherein  they  found  peace  and  happiness.  To-night  I  hope 
that  I  made  clear  to  you  that  life  is  a  blessed  and  divine  gift, 
an  opportunity  which  man  should  prize  highly  and  utilize  wisely. 
In  the  future  we  will  learn  how  to  make  the  most  of  this  precious 
opportunity  so  that  when  the  time  comes  that  we  have  to  render 
an  account  of  it  to  Him  who  sent  us  hither,  we  shall  be  sustained 
by  the  blessed  consciousness  that  we  have  done  our  duty. — 
AMEN. 


EDUCATION. 


TEXT:— "Happy  is  the  man  that  findeth  wisdom,  and  the  man  that  get- 
teth  understanding.  For  the  obtaining  of  her  is  better  than  the  obtaining 
of  silver  and  the  gain  thereof  than  fine  gold.  .  .  .  The  Lord  by  wisdom 
hath  founded  the  earth;  by  understanding  hath  He  established  the  heavens." 
(Proverbs  III,  13,  14,  19.) 

EDUCATION  is  considered  by  many  as  a  means  to  an  end, 
not  as  a  goal  for  which  man  should  strive.  They  value  educa- 
tion as  a  leveller  of  the  path,  as  a  tool  by  which  one  can  con- 
struct a  life  of  comfort  and  success.  Very  few  indeed,  are 
those  who  at  the  present  stage  of  civilization  would  question  the 
utility  of  education ;  but  while  regarding  it  as  a  powerful  weapon 
in  the  struggle  for  existence,  they  fail  to  see  in  it  one  of  the 
greatest  blessings  of  life  which,  aside  from  its  value  in  dollars 
and  cents,  is  a  gift  of  priceless  worth.  I  advocate  education  not 
merely  to  make  better  competitors  in  the  strife  for  success,  but 
to  make  better  men  and  better  women.  "Education" — as  Sir 
John  Lubbock  says — "is  not  intended  to  make  Lawyers  a^d 
Clergymen,  Soldiers  or  Schoolmasters,  Farmers  or  Artisans,  but 
Men."  The  etymology  of  the  xword  "education"  indicates  that 
it  means  the  bringing  out  or  development  of  the  noblest  forces 
of  our  nature ;  the  awakening  of  the  grandest  faculties  that  are 
slumbering  in  our  souls. 

Education,  when  thus  defined,  becomes  a  treasure,  the  very 
process  of  acquiring  which  is  a  privilege  and  a  blessing;  it  be- 
comes a  most  precious  heritage,  which  to  possess  is  worth  years 
of  toil  and  struggle — nay,  a  whole  life-time  of  unremitting  energy 
and  zeal.  We  can  hardly  overestimate  the  importance  of  edu- 
cation. It  makes  us  worthy  of  the  name  of  man,  without  which 
we  have  but  little  claim  of  being  distinguished  from  the  other 
animals,  whose  existence  is  confined  within  the  narrow  scope  of 
living,  feeding  and  proj&ring  food  and  off -spring.  [^Aristotle 
said :  ' '  The  educated  differ  from  the  uneducated  as  "the  living 
from  the  dead,  ""j  And  while  we  would  not  readily  endorse  this 
view  of  the  greatest  philosopher  of  antiquity,  we  must  admit 
that  ignorance  is  a  curse,  a  calamity,  a  source  of  evil,  and  the 
mother  of  crime  and  corruption.  Victor  Hugo  said  that  "He 
who  opens  a  school  closes  a  prison." 


EDUCATION.  13 

Education  opens  our  eyes  and  makes  us  fit  to  do  our  duty 
in  the  several  spheres  whither  Providence  has  placed  us.  When 
Adam  and  Eve  had  eaten  from  the  Tree  of  Knowledge,  then 
"their  eyes  were  opened."  It  is  not  necessary  to  enter  into  the 
old  controversy  whether  college  graduates  are  more  fit  for  the 
work  of  the  world  than  the  "self-made"  men.  No  doubt  there 
are  young  men  in  the  colleges  that  would  make  better  grocery 
clerks  than  students,  but  their  failure  is  not  the  fault  of  educa- 
tion, but  of  their  inability  to  make  use  of  the  opportunities 
offered  to  them.  All  arguments  against  education  based  on  the 
success  that  "self-made"  men  sometimes  achieved,  have  no  more 
relevance  than  to  reason  that  eyesight  is  not  necessary  because 
some  bljnd  men  have  accomplished  great  things  in  the  world. 
Thosa^Hy"  self -made"  men  who,  because  of  industry  and  endur- 
ance ^^^  become  great  and  famous,  regretted  most  bitterly  the 
fact  Mat  in  their  youth  they  had  no  opportunity  to  get  an  edu- 
catk>n.  Abraham  Lincoln,  until  the  very  last  days  of  his  life, 
depored  his  neglected  training.  Peter 'Cooper  also  persisted  to 
the  very  last  in  regretting  the  lack  of  schooling  as  the  great  mis- 
fortune  of  his  life.  He  used  to  say,  "If  I  could  have  had  such 
advantages  as  we  give  the  poorest  boy  now,  how  much  more 
could  I  have  done ! ' '  "Who  knows  how  much  greater  our  ' '  self- 
made"  men  would  be  if  they  had  had  good  training  in  their 
youth.  "Experience  is  a  dear  school" — says  Franklin — "but 
fools  will  learn  in  no  other." 

Education  makes  men  broad-minded.  The  ignorant  man  is 
limited  in  his  views.  "Education  lights  up  the  history  of  the 
world  and  makes  it  one  bright  path  of  progress;  it  enables  us 
to  appreciate  the  literature  of  the  world;  it  opens  for  us  the 
book  of  nature  and  creates  sources  of  interest  wherever  we  find 
ourselves."  (Lubbock.)  Superstition,  intolerance,  fanaticism 
and  bigotry— these  blights  of  humanity  that  caused  rivers  of 
blood  to  flow,  have  their  hot-bed  in  ignorance.  Education  causes 
the  darkness  of  race-hatred  and  oppression  to  recede  and  the 
torch  of  liberty  and  of  liberality  to  illumine  the  hearts  and 
minds  of  men.  Show  me  an  untutored,  illiterate  and  ignorant 
man  and  I  will  show  you  one  who  is  circumscribed  in  his  judg- 
ment and  swayed  by  prejudices  and  passions,  and  whom  unprin- 
cipled men  can  use  as  their  tool  for  wrongdoing. 

Education,  moreover,  is  a  great  source  of  happiness.  The 
joys  of  intellect  are  incomparably  superior  to  those  that  appeal 
to  our  sensuous  nature.  There  comes  a  time  when  the  mate- 


14  EDUCATION. 

rial  pleasures  lose  their  former  power  to  satisfy  our  desires. 
Anxiety  and  sorrow  come  when  the  merriment  of  the  days  of 
sunshine  has  lost  its  charm  and  we  crave  for  something  more 
real  and  more  lasting.  What  a  blessing  is  it  if  in  those  days  of 
gloom  we  possess  a  mind  cultivated  to  think  and  stored  with 
the  invaluable  gems  of  the  intellectual  products  of  the  past! 
What  a  boon  to  have  the  means  of  escaping  from  ourselves  and 
getting  absorbed  in  the  noble  themes  that  occupied  the  thoughts 
of  the  noblest  men  and  women  of  all  ages !  In  old  age,  when  the 
physical  powers  of  man  are  declining,  what  a  difference  between 
the  educated  and  the  ignorant  man!  One  is  leading  a  dreary, 
uninteresting  and  gloomy  life,  a  mere  shadow  of  his  former  self, 
sinking  into  listlessness  and  indifference.  The  other  is  rejoicing 
in  his  intellectual  pursuits,  weaving  the  threads  of  thought  in 
the  loom  of  wisdom,  enriching  others  by  his  ever-ripening  knowl- 
edge, possessing  a  cool  head,  a  warm  heart,  and  a  sound  judg- 
ment until  the  golden  gleam  of  sunset  merges  into  the  starry 
night  of  eternity! 

These  being  the  blessed  rewards  of  education,  ought  we  not 
follow  the  advice  of  the  royal  philosopher  of  the  Bible,  who  says 
that  "Wisdom  is  the  principal  thing;  therefore,  get  wisdom,  and 
with  all  thy  getting,  get  understanding?"  (Proverbs  IV,  7.)  0, 
my  friends,  and  especially  those  of  you  who  stand  on  the  thresh- 
old of  life,  take  my  advice  and  do  all  you  possibly  can  to  acquire 
knowledge.  Have  the  courage  to  face  the  clock.  See  how  its 
hands  never  stop.  So  does  your  youth  pass,  and  your  golden  days 
of  spring  and  your  precious  years  of  opportunity  shall  soon  be 
over.  A  fierce  struggle  awaits  you.  In  the  battlefield  of  the 
future  he  will  be  triumphant  who  will  be  best  equipped  with  the 
weapons  of  wisdom  and  ready  knowledge. 

Are  you  preparing  yourselves  for  that  noble  combat  or  do 
you  slumber  and  resign  yourselves  to  certain  defeat?  Do  you 
appreciate  the  value  of  time  ?  0,  waste  it  not  on  external  things. 
Bestow  thought  on  the  development  of  the  soul. 

Now  is  the  time  to  study,  to  read,  to  think,  to  accumulate 
intellectual  treasures  which  will  bear  you  a  rich  interest  in  the 
future.  There  is  no  excuse  for  ignorance  in  this  country.  The 
land  is  dotted  with  schools,  colleges,  universities,  libraries  and 
museums.  Millions  are  spent  on  education  by  the  government 
and  more  by  private  individuals,  generous  men  and  women  who 
thoroughly  comprehend  the  value  of  a  dollar,  but  who  also  know 
that  wisdom  is  more  precious  than  gold.  Truly  can  it  be  said, 


EDUCATION,  15 

"Wisdom  crieth  without,  she  uttereth  her  voice  in  the  streets. 
(Proverbs  I,  20.)  Oh,  how  many  of  you  utilize  these  precious 
opportunities?  How  many  live  as  if  there  would  be  nothing 
worth  striving  after,  and  toiling  and  working  for,  besides  the 
necessities  and  comforts  of  daily  life?  How  many  waste  the 
precious  moments  of  their  leisure  in  idleness,  indolence  and 
foolish  gossip? 

Nor  should  study  cease  after  youth  had  given  way  to  matur- 
ity. The  following  anecdote  is  related  of  Bossuet,  the  celebrated 
French  bishop.  Sometime  after  Louis  XIV  had  appointed  him 
to  a  certain  bishopric,  he  asked  the  citizens  how  they  liked  their 
new  bishop.  "Why,  your  Majesty,  we  like  him  pretty  well." 
"Pretty  well!  why,  what  fault  have  you  to  find  with  him?" 
"To  tell  the  truth,  we  would  have  preferred  having  a  bishop 
who  had  finished  his  education ;  for  whenever  we  wait  upon  him, 
we  are  told  that  he  is  at  his  studies." — Our  education  is  never 
finished.  We  ought  to  learn  all  the  days  of  our  life,  and  stop 
only  when  we  cease  to  live.  Our  love  for  learning  and  for  men- 
tal improvement  when  deeply  rooted,  ought  to  animate  us  at  all 
times.  No  one  is  too  old  to  learn.  Truly  does  the  German 

proverb  say: 

Wir  leben  um  zu  lernen 
Und  lernen  um  zu  leben. 

However,  there  is  another  way  by  which  we  can  show  our 
love  for  wisdom,  namely,  by  aiding  others  to  acquire  it.  If  we 
have  not  done  fully  our  duty  in  this  respect,  let  us  remedy  the 
fault  by  carefully  directing  the  mental  training  of  our  children 
and  by  liberally  supporting  those  who  devote  their  life  to  the 
advancement  of  learning. 

Our  duty,  of  course,  begins  at  home.  The  education  of  our 
children  ought  to  be  an  object  of  our  constant  and  earnest  solic- 
itude. Fathers  and  mothers  ought  personally  supervise  and 
control  the  schooling  of  their  children  in  secular  as  well  as  in 
religious  studies.  They  should  never  be  too  busy  to  look  after 
their  children's  progress  and  attendance.  This  supervision 
should  be  constant  and  regular,  only  thus  will  it  prove  beneficial. 
Parents  should  do  their  utmost  to  get  the  best  possible  education 
for  their  children.  William  Penn  said :  "In  education  all  is  lost 
that  is  saved."  By  bestowing  wisdom  upon  your  children  you 
supply  them  with  a  treasure  which  is  the  most  precious,  for  it 
can  neither  be  stolen,  given  away,  nor  consumed.  You  can  never 
pay  too  high  a  price  for  the  education  of  your  children,  if  it  is 


16  EDUCATION. 

performed  properly.  Here,  however,  I  touch  upon  a  weak  point. 
While  people  are  anxious  to  educate  their  children,  they  exhibit 
remarkable  economy  and  even  niggardliness  in  the  remuneration 
of  teachers.  Communities,  too,  commit  the  same  fault.  Teachers 
are  the  poorest  paid  of  all  municipal  officials,  and  yet  they  per- 
form the  noblest  service  to  the  city  and  to  the  nation.  There  is 
hardly  another  occupation  which  demands  so  much  self -sacrifice, 
devotion,  untiring  zeal  and  life-shortening  fatigue  as  does  teach- 
ing. Perfunctory  performance  of  duty  will  never  bring  good 
results.  The  teacher  must  put  her  soul,  her  affection  and  all 
her  concentrated  powers  into  the  work  and  only  thus  can  she 
succeed  in  awakening  the  soul  of  the  child  to  the  perception  of 
truth  and  knowledge.  This  kind  of  labor  is  so  arduous  that  few 
can  continue  it  for  many  years  without  a  serious  detriment  to 
their  physical  well-being.  And  yet  how  little  is  the  work  of 
teachers  appreciated!  How  thankless  is  their  task! 

''""My  friends,  to-night  there  is  a  large  meeting  at  the 
Academy  of  Music,  where  prominent  educators  are  advocating 
increased  salaries  for  the  public  school  teachers  of  Philadelphia. 
I  hope  that  these  efforts  on  behalf  of  the  most  faithful  servants 
of  the  city  will  meet  with  success.  I  hope  that  if  the  authorities 
of  the  city  see  fit  to  exercise  economy,  they  will  exercise  it  in 
some  other  directions  and  not  by  denying  the  comforts  of  life 
and  the  prospects  for  a  competence  in  old  age  to  those  who  have 
in  their  hands  the  moulding  of  the  manhood  and  womanhood  of 
the  future,  and  upon  whose  efforts  depend  the  morality  and  the 
happiness  of  the  coming  generation/) 

Our  sages  of  old  well  appreciated  the  mission  of  teachers. 
A  Rabbi,  thus  records  the  Talmud,  once  came  to  a  place  and 
asked  for  the  guardians  of  the  city.  He  was  introduced  to 
the  chiefs  of  the  police.  "No!— the  Rabbi  said— "these  are  not 
the  guardians  of  the  city.  Have  you  any  schools  in  your 
town  ? ' '  He  was  brought  to  a  school  and  pointing  to  the  teach- 
ers, the  sage  said:  "These  are  the  guardians  of  the  city!" 
Indeed,  this  truth  so  well  understood  by  Israel's  sages  sixteen 
hundred  years  ago  is  only  gradually  gaining  recognition  in  the 
world.  Not  the  police,  nor  the  penal  institutions  are  the  guaran- 
tees of  the  safety  of  society.  Not  in  the  army,  nor  in  the  navy, 
nor  in  fortresses  lie  the  strength  of  the  nation  and  the  security 
of  the  republic.  Every  school  where  virtue  and  patriotism  are 
taught  is  a  mighty  fortress  which  no  foe  can  conquer.  It  is 
there  where  this  republic's  strength  and  honor  are  safe-guarded. 


EDUCATION.  17 

Every  teacher  who  conscientiously  performs  his  or  her  duty  is  a 
benefactor  of  the  nation  and  a  defender  of  the  people's  liberties. 
Train  a  good  citizen  and  you  have  served  your  country  fully  as 
much  as  he  who  faces  death  on  the  battlefield. 

When  will  mankind  at  large  recognize  the  fact  that  the 
heroes  of  peace  deserve  as  much  honor  and  reward  as  the  heroes 
of  war?  While  the  soldier  gets  the  applause  of  the  people  and 
is  crowned  with  laurels,  the  teacher  who  works  patiently  and 
offers  a  life  of  unremitting  toil  upon  the  altar  of  patriotism,  lives 
unappreciated  and  dies  "unwept,  unhonored  and  unsung!" 

My  friends,  I  cannot  conclude  this  lecture  without  refer- 
ring at  least  briefly  to  the  crying  necessity  of  a  more  thorough 
religious  education  in  this  country.  It  is  in  this  respect  where 
most  of  us  fail,  and  Jews  in  particular  are  sadly  deficient. 
Ignorance  of  the  tenets  of  our  faith,  of  the  Bible,  of  the  Hebrew 
language  and  of  our  glorious  history  is  so  prevalent,  that  we 
have  reason  to  be  anxiously  concerned  about  the  future  of  Juda- 
ism in  America.  It  is  a  grave  error  we  commit  when  we  think 
we  have  done  our  duty  by  acquiring  for  ourselves  and  procuring 
for  our  children  a  general  education  without  devoting  time  and 
thought  to  the  study  of  religion.  "The  fear  of  the  Lord  is  the 
beginning  of  Wisdom,"  and  all  education  that  is  not  coupled 
with  sound  principles  of  faith  and  morality  is  practically  worth- 
less. The  greatest  of  all  sciences  is  the  science  of  life  and  the 
greatest  art  is  to  know  how  to  live  so  as  to  become  useful  to  our- 
selves and  to  humanity. 

The  cultivation  of  the  mind  without  the  cultivation  of  the 
heart  is  apt  to  do  more  harm  than  good.  If  our  educated  young 
men  and  young  women  have  proven  a  disappointment,  be  sure 
the  fault  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact,  tlmt  while  climbing  the  giddy 
heights  of  knowledge,  they  neglected  to  take  with  them  the  staff 
of  faith  and  hence  have  plunged  into  the  depths  of  sin  and 
failure. 

It  is,  therefore,  essential  to  combine  sound  moral  training 
with  a  thorough  secular  education  and  thus,  and  only  thus,  will 
we  be  equipped  to  enter  the  ranks  of  those  whose  life  is  really 
worth  living. 

Let  us,  then,  never  cease  to  improve  our  minds  to  ennoble 
our  souls  and  to  elevate  our  characters,  making  as  our  motto : 

"  What  is  good  and  fair 
Shall  ever  be  our  care." 

AMEN. 


LITERATURE. 


TEXT:— "A  wise  man  will  hear,  and  will  increase  learning;  and  a  man 
of  understanding  shall  attain  unto  wise  counsels. "—(Proverbs  I,  5.) 

EDUCATION  is  a  blessing  which  to  possess  is  a  worthy  aim 
for  all  men.  But  how  many  are  so  situated  as  to  be  able  to 
acquire  a  good  education  ?  Are  not  most  of  our  boys  and  girls 
prevented  by  circumstances  from  attending  higher  institutions 
of  learning  ?  Only  a  small  percentage  of  them  can  afford  to  take 
advantage  of  our  high  schools  and  colleges,  while  the  rest  must 
enter  life  and  engage  in  the  struggle  for  existence  while  still  in 
early  youth.  How  shall  this  large  majority  of  our  youth  obtain 
the  mental  training  and  the  information  indispensable  to  a  life 
of  usefulness  and  happiness  ?  How  shall  they  acquire  the  knowl- 
edge and  the  culture  by  which  to  perfect  their  manhood  and 
womanhood?  Fortunately,  we  are  in  a  position  to  offer  a  solu- 
tion to  this  problem.  Literature  is  a  school  which  is  open  to  all 
who  can  read,  young  and  old,  rich  and  poor,  workingman  or 
businessman  alike.  Carlyle  said  that  "all  education  is  only 
learning  how  to  read  and  the  best  university  is  a  library  of 
books."  Well  may  we  bless  Cadmus  who  invented  letters  by 
which  man 's  thoughts  can  be  made  to  endure  on  paper,  and  wrell 
may  we  glorify  the  memory  of  Gutenberg,  the  inventor  of  print- 
ing, through  whom  books  were  made  accessible  to  the  poor  as 
well  as  to  the  rich. 

Next  to  oral  instruction,  reading  of  good  books  is  the  best 
means  by  which  culture  can  be  obtained  and  the  mind  improved. 
Some  of  our  greatest  men  achieved  honor  and  fame  because  of 
the  reading  habit  which  they  acquired  in  their  youth.  Says 
Professor  Matthews:  "The  most  original  thinkers  have  been 
most  ready  to  acknowledge  their  obligations  to  other  minds, 
whose  wisdom  has  been  hived  in  books."  Gibbon  acquired  from 
his  aunt  an  early  and  invincible  love  of  reading,  which  he  de- 
clared "he  would  not  exchange  for  the  treasures  of  India." 
Benjamin  Franklin  while  yet  a  young  boy  by  some  chance  got 
hold  of  Cotton  Mather's  "Essays  to  do  Good,"  and  to  the  in- 
fluence of  this  book  he  traced  his  entire  career  of  success  and 
renown.  Lincoln's  wonderful  rise  from  obscurity  and  poverty 


LITERATURE.  19 

to  the  highest  position  to  which  an  American  can  aspire,  was  in 
no  small  degree  due  to  his  love  of  reading  and  his  passion  for 
books.  He  had  a  marvelous  eagerness  to  get  hold  of  some  good 
book  and  devour  its  contents,  and  he  would  often  walk  for  miles 
to  borrow  a  book.  The  three  books  he  first  absorbed  were  the 
Bible,  "Aesop's  Fables,"  and  the  "Pilgrim's  Progress."  On 
these  three,  says  a  biographer,  was  formed  the  literary  taste 
of  Abraham  Lincoln.  So  diligently  did  he  study  them  that  he 
could  repeat  from  memory  many  whole  chapters  of  the  Bible, 
all  of  the  striking  passages  of  Bunyan's  immortal  book,  and 
every  one  of  the  fables  of  Aesop. 

Not  only  is  reading  one  of  the  best  means  of  enriching  the 
mind,  but  it  is  one  of  the  purest  and  noblest  pleasures  of  life. 
Literature,  in  the  first  place,  introduces  us  into  the  company  of 
the  greatest  and  noblest  men  and  women  of  all  ages.  The  com- 
panionship of  the  noble,  wise,  good  and  true,  is  certainly  a  great 
privilege.  How  people  will  flock  to  have  a  chance  of  getting  a 
glimpse  at  some  literary  celebrity!  To  shake  the  hand  of  some 
famous  statesman,  or  scientist,  or  even  to  be  permitted  to  listen  to 
the  words  of  some  poet  or  novelist  is  regarded  a  distinction  of 
great  note,  and  yet,  as  Ruskin  says :  ' '  There  is  a  society  continu- 
ally open  to  us  of  people  who  will  talk  to  us  as  long  as  we  like, 
whatever  our  rank  or  occupation; — talk  to  us  in  the  best  words 
they  can  choose,  and  of  the  things  nearest  to  their  hearts.  And 
this  society,  because  it  is  so  numerous  and  so  gentle,  and  can  be 
kept  waiting  around  us  all  day  long — kings  and  statesmen 
lingering  patiently,  not  to  grant  audience,  but  to  gain  it! — in 
those  plainly  furnished  and  narrow  ante-rooms,  our  book-case 
shelves, — we  make  no  account  of  that  company, — perhaps  never 
listen  to  a  word  they  would  say,  all  day  long."  *"He  that 
loveth  a  book,"  says  Isaac  Barrow,  "will  never  want  a  faith- 
ful friend,  a  wholesome  counsellor,  a  cheerful  companion,  an 
effectual  comforter."  "Books,"  says  Jeremy  Collier,  "are  a 
guide  in  youth  and  an  entertainment  for  age.  They  support 
us  under  solitude,  and  keep  us  from  being  a  burden  to  ourselves. 
They  help  us  to  forget  the  crossness  of  men  and  things ;  compose 
our  cares  and  passions;  and  lay  our  disappointments  asleep." 

Moreover,  literature  opens  a  new  vista  to  our  mental  vision, 
widens  our  horizon  and  deepens  our  sympathies.  It  brings  us 
out  of  the  narrow  and  circumscribed  circle  of  our  daily  activities 


*Quoted  by  Lubbock  in  "The  Pleasures  of  Life." 


20  LITERATURE. 

and  reveals  to  us  different  men  and  conditions  and  times  with 
different  problems  and  anxieties.  Literature,  to  use  Viscount 
Goschen's  phrase,  gives  us  "a  mental  change  of  scene."  "And 
over  what  worlds  will  not  fancy  enable  you  to  roam?— The  world 
of  the  past,  ideal  worlds  and  other  worlds  beyond  your  sight, 
probably  brighter  worlds,  possibly  more  interesting  worlds  than 
the  narrow  world  in  which  most  of  us  are  compelled  to  live;  at 
all  events,  different  worlds,  and  worlds  that  give  us  change." 

It  makes  us  less  selfish,  less  self-centred,  more  sympathetic 
and  liberal  minded  and  fills  us  with  an  interest  for  our  fellow- 
creatures  of  all  climes  and  countries.  Our  humanity  is  exalted, 
our  imagination  cultivated,  our  opinions  well  directed  and  our 
prejudices  shattered  by  the  subtle  and  yet  mighty  influence  of 
the  books  we  read. 

Seeing  that  these  are  the  benefits  of  reading,  we  ought  to 
try  to  acquire  the  reading  habit.  It  is  a  reading  world  in  which 
we  live  and  those  who  cannot  see  the  value  and  pleasure  of  read- 
ing have  not  kept  pace  with  the  march  of  time.  Moreover,  we 
live  in  a  blessed  age  when  the  master-pieces  of  the  greatest 
thinkers  can  be  procured  for  a  price  that  ought  to  enable  every 
one  to  have  a  little  collection  of  choice  books  in  his  home.  Some- 
body said  that  a  home  without  books  is  like  a  body  without  a 
soul.  Then,  consider  the  great  facilities  for  increasing  our 
knowledge  we  have  in  the  large  libraries  that  circulate  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  volumes  annually!  Those  who  in  the  midst  of 
this  abundance  of  intellectual  food  still  prefer  to  remain  hungry 
are  throwing  away  most  precious  opportunities  for  which  some 
day  they  will  be  sorry. 

But  there  are  some  who  claim  to  be  too  busy  to  read  books.  The 
duties  that  an  intense  struggle  for  existence  imposes  upon  them 
are  too  manifold  and  too  arduous  to  allow  leisure  and  calmness 
of  mind  necessary  for  reading.  A  busy  commercial  or  profes- 
sional life  leaves  indeed  but  little  time  for  self -improvement. 
Busy  people  cannot  spend  hours  every  day  in  reading.  But  I 
do  believe  that  almost  anybody  could  spare  a  few  minutes,  or 
say  an  hour  a  day  in  reading  some  useful  book.  The  trouble  is 
not  so  much  the  lack  of  time,  as  the  lack  of  effort  and  the  want 
of  desire  for  exercising  one's  mental  capacities.  There  are  a 
good  many  people  who  got  out  of  the  habit  or  perhaps  never 
learned  to  do  any  serious  intellectual  work,  except  what  is  neces- 
sary in  conducting  their  business.  They  have  no  desire  for 
knowledge.  They  experience  no  yearning  to  know  something 


LITERATURE.  21 

of  this  great  world,  of  the  earth  upon  which  they  live,  and  of  its 
people  with  their  problems,  their  struggles,  and  their  aspirations. 
They  live  a  narrow,  crippled  and  stinted  life.  The  less  they 
know  the  less  they  feel  their  ignorance.  It  is  only  when  we 
get  a  taste  of  knowledge  that  the  desire  to  increase  our  intel- 
lectual treasures  asserts  itself.  If  those  who  never  made  it  a 
practice  to  take  a  good  book  into  their  hands  would  once  make 
the  experiment,  I  am  sure  they  would  be  impelled  to  repeat  it 
and  would  gradually  become  accustomed  to  such  mental  efforts, 
and  then  they  would  always  find  time  for  reading.  Every  one 
has  some  leisure  time.  "Without  it  neither  man,  nor  beast,  nor 
machine,  could  continue  doing  any  work.  The  question  only 
is  how  to  utilize  this  leisure  time.  Should  we  use  it  for  things 
that  debase  and  degrade,  or  for  things  that  refine  and  ennoble? 
One  of  the  best  ways  of  judging  men's  characters  is  by  examin- 
ing the  nature  of  their  recreations.  Taking  the  manner  in 
which  a  large  class  of  people  see  fit  to  spend  their  spare  hours 
as  a  criterion,  their  characters  will  not  appear  in  a  very  brilliant 
light.  Many  are  those  who  consider  card-playing  as  one  of  the 
pleasantest  ways  of  spending  an  evening  or  a  vacation.  I  am 
not  referring  to  those  who  sink  so  low  as  to  gamble,  but  to  those 
who  indulge  in  a  "  harmless,  sociable  game. ' '  Let  us  admit  that 
the  sociable  game  is  harmless,  and  that  in  the  case  of  mature 
people  it  will  not  lead  to  the  cursed  vice  of  gambling  and  eventu- 
ally to  ruined  homes  and  wrecked  lives.  Supposing,  then,  it  is 
harmless,  I  ask,  what  good  is  there  in  it?  Does  it  make  for  bet- 
ter manhood  and  better  womanhood?  Does  it  inculcate  a  more 
thorough  knowledge  of  the  duties  of  man  to  man  and  man  to 
God?  Is  it  worth  spending  precious  hours  of  this  fleeting  short 
life  without  some  real  benefit  or  some  elevating  and  ennobling 
pleasure?  Playing  cards  should  be  avoided  not  only  because  it 
gradually  may  lead  to  gambling,  which  usually  results  in  spirit- 
ual and  material  ruin,  but  because  it  is  a  fearful  loss  of  time 
and  because  that  precious  time— oh,  so  precious,  because  so 
limited  and  so  uncertain — could  be  used  for  a  glorious  purpose, 
for  the  development  of  those  talents  which  God  graciously  be- 
stowed upon  us,  for  the  fanning  of  the  divine  spark  which  He 
breathed  into  our  nostrils  until  it  becomes  a  mighty  flame  shed- 
ding brightness  and  joy  all  around ! 

If  instead  of  spending  our  spare  time  in  recreations  that  are 
worse  than  idleness,  and  in  amusements  that  not  only  lack  all 
claim  to  refinement  but  are  positively  degrading,  we  would  taste 


22  LITERA'IT  RE. 

of  those  joys  that  according  to  the  testimony  of  the  good  and 
the  wise  come  from  good  literature,  how  much  better  and  nobler 
would  we  be,  and  how  much  fitter  to  grapple  with  temptation 
and  sin !  If  men  would  seek  relief  from  their  daily  labors  not 
in  exciting,  time-wasting  and  money-squandering  games,  but  in 
the  upbuilding  of  their  mental  faculties  and  in  widening  and 
deepening  their  knowledge,  how  much  happier  would  they  and 
their  dear  ones  be!  If  women  would  not  spend  afternoons  in 
this  "harmless,  sociable  game,"  but  would  endeavor  to  under- 
stand their  duties  as  wives  and  mothers,  as  guardian  angels  of 
the  home  and  as  sponsors  of  the  purity  and  nobility  of  the  com- 
ing generation,  endeavoring  to  infuse  the  love  for  learning  and 
for  wisdom  into  the  hearts  of  their  children— how  much  brighter 
would  be  the  future  of  this  republic !  If  our  sons  and  daughters 
would  not  waste  their  youthful  years  in  chasing  after  foolish 
amusements  and  debasing  pleasures,  but  would  drink  deeply  at 
the  fountain  of  knowledge  and  acquire  a  taste  for  good  books, 
and,  by  reading  them,  gain  precious  lessons  of  life  and  its  mani- 
fold duties  and  dangers,  how  much  more  real  and  lasting  honor 
and  happiness  would  there  be  in  store  for  them,  how  much  more 
bravely  would  they  face  the  unknown  future  which  lies  before 
them! 

.My  friends,  while  emphasizing  the  importance  of  literature 
and  the  necessity  of  acquiring  the  reading  habit,  I  must  also 
say  a  few  words  on  the  question  "What  to  read?"  If  you-  do 
read,  read  something  worth  while.  Do  not  read  any  trash.  To 
read  through  word  for  word  the  daily  paper  or  that  modern 
literary  monstrosity,  the  Sunday  paper,  with  all  the  disgusting 
details  about  every  murder,  suicide  or  social  scandal  is  not  very 
conducive  to  mental  and  moral  development.  While  all  who 
desire  to  be  abreast  with  the  times  and  be  well-informed  con- 
cerning the  events  of  the  day  must  read  papers,  let  them  get 
the  cleanest  and  best  ones  issued,  and  not  spend  more  time  on 
them  than  they  deserve.  As  to  books,  let  us  state  that  not  all 
books  are  worth  reading.  Some  are  useless  because  they  contain 
no  original  thought,  and  others  are  pernicious  because  they  are 
immoral  and  vicious.  It  is  far  better  not  to  read  at  all  than  to 
read  bad  books.  They  ought  to  be  banished  from  the  home  and 
from  the  library,  for  they  poison  the  minds  of  their  readers.  No 
matter  how  clever  a  book  may  be  or  how  attractive  its  style,  if  it 
has  an  evil  influence  by  tending  to  disrupt  the  established  laws 
of  morality  and  virtue  and  by  painting  vice  with  alluring  colors, 


LITERATURE.  23 

it  ought  to  be  shunned  like  leprosy.  Take,  for  instance,  the 
unhealthy,  sensational  or  morbidly  sentimental  novels  that  are 
being  turned  out  annually  by  the  thousands  and  eagerly  de- 
voured by  our  young  men  and  young  women!  Some  of  them 
are  written  in  a  brilliant  style,  but  as  they  inculcate  unchastity 
they  ought  to  be  avoided  even  as  moral  poison.  A  vicious  book 
is  like  a  bad  companion,  it  corrupts  and  pollutes  the  character. 
Oh,  many  are  the  victims  of  the  morbid  spirit  that  pervades  the 
modern  realistic  and  vitiated  novel,  and  many  will  be  devoured 
by  this  Moloch  to  which  our  youth  sacrifice,  if  not  saved  by  intel- 
ligent and  careful  guides,  directing  them  to  the  glorious  pro- 
ductions of  the  immortal  masters  of  ancient  and  of  modern  times. 

Why  spend  your  time  in  perusing  the  worthless  works  of 
some  second-hand  novelist,  while  the  works  of  such  acknowledged 
geniuses  as  Shakespeare,  Milton,  Tennyson,  Scott,  Dickens, 
Elliot,  Gibbon,  Macaulay,  Emerson  and  .of  the  other  divinely- 
gifted  poets,  novelists  and  historians  remain  neglected  and 
unread?  Why  be  satisfied  picking  the  ignoble  weeds  of  the 
garden  of  literature  and  tread  under  foot  the  beautiful  flowers 
that  spread  fragrance  and  joy  ?  Why  be  content  with  reading 
the  ephemeral  productions  of  mediocre  or  inferior  authors  and 
remain  ignorant  of  "that  volume  to  which  the  world's  literature, 
profane  and  sacred,  pays  unconscious  tribute,  by  calling  it  THE 
BOOK"— namely,  the  Bible?  As  one  recently  wrote:  "Grand 
in  its  simplicity,  unmatched  in  its  sublimity,  vast  in  its  variety, 
wonderful  in  its  internal  unity,  peerless  in  its  power  to  stimulate 
man's  higher  nature,  and  satisfying  in  its  views  of  the  world 
and  of  human  life,  the  Bible  is  a  library  in  itself.  It  contains 
history  the  most  ancient,  biography  the  most  unique,  poetry 
the  most  exquisite,  allegory  the  must  enchanting,  and  laws  the 
most  imperative." 

Aside  from  the  fact  that  the  Bible  is  the  inspired  word  of 
God,  full  of  guidance  for  man's  life,  from  a  literary  standpoint 
it  stands  pre-eminent  among  the  treasures  of  humanity.  Sir 
John  Lubbock,  giving  a  list  of  one  hundred  of  the  best  books  in 
the  world's  literature,  places  the  Bible  at  the  head  of  the  list. 
It  must  be  admitted  that  the  man  or  woman  who  has  not  at  least 
a  fair  familiarity  with  the  contents  of  the  Bible  cannot  claim  the 
distinction  of  being  considered  cultured.  What  shall  we  say 
of  those  members  of  the  "People  of  the  Book,"  descendants  of 
those  great  prophets  and  poets  and  writers  that  produced  the 
noblest  book  of  humanity,  who  are  strangers  to  their  glorious 


24  LITERATrRE. 

heritage?  It  is  a  pity,  alas,  that  the  number  of  Jews  who  know 
almost  nothing  of  the  Bible  is  so  very  large,  but  it  is  a  still 
greater  pity  that  they  allow  the  perpetuation  of  this  woful 
ignorance  in  their  children  and  take  no  pains  to  impress  them 
with  the  importance  of  reading  what  is  best  and  noblest  in  the 
world's  literature  and  particularly  with  the  importance  of  read- 
ing the  greatest  Book  that  was  ever  written— the  Bible. 

My  friends,  cultivate  your  taste.  If  you  have  not  hitherto 
had  any  appreciation  for  the  precious  works  of  literature,  try  to 
create  in  yourselves  a  desire  to  know  what  the  wisest  men  and 
women  have  said  and  written  upon  subjects  of  universal  human 
interest.  Do  not  be  content  to  remain  in  self-satisfied  ignorance. 
Aspire  for  something  higher  and  nobler  than  that  to  which  you 
devoted  your  past.  Learn  to  appreciate  the  good,  the  true  and 
the  beautiful  by  absorbing  the  thoughts,  the  sentiments  and  the 
ideas  which  men  of  wisdom  and  genius  have  left  for  us  in  their 
books  as  an  everlasting  inheritance.  Do  not  devote  all  your 
energies  to  your  material  needs.  Consider  your  necessities  as  a 
thinking,  feeling,  hoping  and  aspiring  creature,  and  try  to  rise 
to  the  heights  of  true  humanity  by  utilizing  your  time  for  pur- 
poses noble  and  eternal,  remembering  that  "time  is  a  sacred 
gift  and  each  day  is  a  little  life." — AMEN. 


HOME. 


TEXT:— "Yea,  the  sparrow  hath  found  an  house,  and  the  swallow  a  nest 
for  herself,  where  she  may  lay  her  young.  .  .  ."—(Psalm  LXXXIV,  3.) 

I  HAVE  endeavored  during  the  past  few  weeks,  my  dear 
friends,  to  present  to  you  some  of  the  supreme  blessings  which 
invest  human  existence  with  dignity  and  purpose  and  compen- 
sate for  the  "whips  and  scorns  of  time."  Among  the  things 
that  "make  life  worth  living,"  I  considered  Education  and 
Literature,  two  media  by  which  man  can  raise  himself  from 
the  level  of  other  sentient  beings  to  the  state  of  a  highly  devel- 
oped, intellectual  and  moral  creature— the  kind  the  Psalmist 
designated  as  "a  little  lower  than  the  angels."  But  there  is 
a  more  primitive  and  more  diffused  boon  which  is  among  the 
foremost  things  that  sweeten  human  life  and  make  its  ills  endur- 
able, and  that  is,  the  Home.  Long  before  the  alphabet  was 
known,  ages  before  the  idea  of  a  school  ever  entered  the  mind 
of  man,  the  home  was  an  influence  that  tended  to  the  eleva- 
tion of  the  human  race.  The  home  is  the  most  ancient  insti- 
tution, having  been  the  germ  from  which  most  other  human 
organizations  developed.  The  State  and  the  Church  have  their 
origin  in  the  crude  home  which  semi-savage  man  built  in  the 
cave  to  shelter  himself  and  his  family.  There  the  first  seeds  of 
law,  of  order,  of  obedience  to  authority  and  of  devotion  to  a 
higher  Power,  were  sown  into  the  human  soul,  which  thousands 
of  years  later  produced  such  magnificent  fruition.  Then,  in- 
deed, the  home  was  the  all  in  all  to  man. 

But  even  in  our  present  state  of  civilization,  with  our  highly 
developed  institutions,  with  all  the  complexity  of  our  social, 
political  and  religious  organizations,  the  home  has  not  lost  in 
importance — it  is  still  the  foundation-stone  upon  which  human 
society  rests,  and  without  which  it  would  crumble  and  fall.  With 
the  progress  of  man,  as  he  gradually  emerged  from  the  animal 
condition,  the  home,  too,  assumed  a  higher  character  and  sub- 
served nobler  ends.  We  no  longer  think  of  the  home  merely  as 
a  shelter  from  the  elements,  or  as  a  protection  from  the  attacks 
of  enemies.  We  rather  associate  with  it  those  comforts  and  joys 
which  family  life  confers  upon  us.  We  think  of  the  home  as 


2o  HOME. 

the  one  place  where  we  find  rest  from  the  bitter  struggle  for 
existence,  as  the  refuge  from  the  strife,  the  rivalry  and  the  tussle 
in  which  we  are  engaged.  What  a  blessing  is  the  home!  How 
cold  and  dreary  would  life  be  without  the  sweet  influence  of  the 
fireside!  There  we  find  comfort  when,  amidst  the  toil  and  the 
labor  of  the  world,  our  hearts  become  saddened  and  discouraged ; 
there  our  storm-tossed  vessel  finds  a  harbor  of  safety;  there  we 
are  sure  to  find  sympathy  if  the  rest  of  the  world  turns  away 
from  us  in  the  hour  of  distress ;  there  we  can  breathe  freely  and 
speak  openly,  knowing  that  love  does  not  misunderstand  nor 
misconstrue  our  words.  No  matter  how  hard  our  fate  is,  no  mat- 
ter how  bitter  our  misfortune  and  how  deep  our  distress,  within 
the  blessed  circle  of  our  beloved  ones  we  are  sure  to  find  some 
healing  balm  and  some  sincere  sympathy. 

What  would  life  be  without  the  dear  home?  The  constant 
rebuffs  we  meet  with,  the  selfishness  and  sin  that  cross  our  path, 
the  hatred,  the  envy,  the  hypocrisy,  the  thousand  and  one  ills 
that  the  weary,  humdrum,  dull  and  prosaic  workaday  flings  at 
us,  would  make  life  a  barren  desert  and  the  world  a  vale  of  tears, 
if  the  happy  home  would  not  instil  courage  and  fortitude  into 
our  despairing  breasts.  The  home  is  indeed  the  Eden  which  God 
planted  for  man 's  delight ;  it  is  a  Heaven  on  earth  where  we  have 
a  foretaste  of  those  joys  which  the  immortals  share  in  the  regions 
of  Eternity.  It  blesses  us  throughout  our  lifetime.  There  the 
cradle  of  our  infancy  is  sheltered;  there  our  manhood  and 
womanhood  reap  their  sweetest  reward;  and  there  our  drooping 
old  age  awaits  the  end  in  calm  serenity. 

The  home  is  the  garden  where  the  fairest  flowers  of  moral 
excellence  are  cultivated.  It  is  the  best  school  in  the  world. 
What  has  been  neglected  in  it  cannot  be  replenished  in  after  life. 
You  see  a  man  admirable  in  deportment,  staunch  in  principle 
and  firm  in  character,  and  you  ask  yourself  where  has  all  this 
excellence  come  from  ?  You  may  be  sure  that  behind  this  human 
nobility  was  a  good  and  happy  home  where  the  sterling  qualities, 
whose  germs  are  within  every  soul,  were  carefully  nurtured, 
even  as  the  gardener  tends  the  flowers  under  his  care.  The 
mighty  tree  has  its  root  deep  in  the  soil  and  the  great  man  has 
his  origin  in  a  home  where  love  held  sway  and  virtue  ruled 
supreme. 

Even  the  memory  of  a  happy  home  is  one  of  our  most  pre- 
cious possessions.  Long  after  the  dear  old  homestead  had  been 
engulfed  by  the  waves  of  the  rushing  years,  long  after  the  be- 


HOME.  27 

loved  beings  that  blessed  it  with  their  self-sacrificing  love  had 
passed  into  the  beyond,  the  reminiscence  of  our  childhood's  home 
is  a  pleasant  picture  indelibly  painted  upon  the  tablets  of  our 
hearts. 

Sad  is  the  lot  of  those  who  lost  their  parents  in  early  youth 
and  who  had  to  start  life  with  the  disadvantage  of  lacking  the 
guidance  of  a  father  and  of  a  mother.  But  bitter  is  also  the 
portion  of  those  who  though  not  deprived  by  the  hand  of  death 
of  these  natural  guardians,  nevertheless  fail  to  experience  a 
thrill  of  joy  when  the  home  of  their  youth  is  recalled  because 
the  recollection  is  mixed  with  bitterness  and  sorrow.  Alas,  there 
are  such  unfortunate  people,  because  not  all  homes  are  happy. 
Think  of  this,  fathers  and  mothers !  Not  all  homes  are  happy ! 
To  which  class  does  yours  belong?  What  kind  of  impression 
will  your  children  take  along  >  with  them  from  their  parental 
fireside?  One  that  will  serve  them  as  a  prop  and  stay,  as  an 
inspiration  and  benediction  for  the  struggles  and  temptations 
that  await  them,  or  one  that  will  handicap  them  in  their  under- 
takings and  hinder  them  from  achieving  a  high  degree  of  honor 
and  happiness  ?  Oh,  think  not  for  a  moment  that  your  material 
condition  is  the  important  element  which  goes  to  make  up  a 
home.  Think  not  that  stones  or  bricks,  marble  or  granite,  pic- 
tures or  furniture,  rugs  or  bric-a-brac  constitute  a  happy  home. 
These  things  are  all  very  good  and  desirable  in  their  way.  But 
you  are  making  the  mistake  of  your  life  if  you  think  that  wealth 
and  affluence,  luxuries  and  comforts  are  essentials  to  make  life 
blessed  and  happy.  When  you  will  be  gone  and  your  bric-a- 
brac  and  furniture  and  pictures  shall  have  been  distributed 
among  the  quarreling  heirs,  will  the  possession  of  these  fragile 
objects  of  your  ambition  be  an  inspiration  to  your  children  for 
noble  living  and  right  acting?  Experience  answers,  No!  His- 
tory replies,  No !  Common  sense  says,  No !  Your  house  may  be 
ever  so  beautiful  and  stored  with  the  rarest  treasures.  If  love, 
peace  and  virtue  are  not  among  its  ornaments,  it  is  not  a  home — 
it  is  a  house,  an  establishment,  a  lodging-place,  call  it  what  yon 
will,  but  do  not  bestow  upon  it  the  fair,  the  sacred  and  the  blessed 
name  of  Home! 

The  most  real  things  in  life  are  not  material  objects,  but 
spiritual  and  moral  ideals.  The  country  which  you  love  and 
for  which  you  are  ready  to  die,  is  not  the  territory  of  land  con- 
tained within  its  boundaries.  It  is  the  aggregate  of  the  ideals, 
the  principles  and  the  aspirations  which  centuries  of  endeavor 


28  HOME. 

have  made  synonymous  with  the  name  of  your  country.  Like- 
wise it  is  with  the  home.  The  material  objects  gain  their  value 
and  importance  because  of  the  ideals  that  are  inseparably  asso- 
ciated with  them.  "We  cherish  an  heirloom  not  because  of  its 
intrinsic  value,  but  because  it  recalls  some  person  who  was  dear 
to  us,  or  some  event  that  was  of  great  moment  to  us.  It  is  always 
the  invisible,  the  intangible,  the  spiritual  element  that  consti- 
tutes the  real  worth  of  things. 

Thus  let  us  learn  the  qualities  of  a  happy  home.  First  comes 
Peace.  This  is  its  foundation.  Without  peace  the  home  is  like 
a  structure  raised  on  sand— it  will  tumble  down  when  the  first 
storm  of  passion  will  blow  over  it.  When  husband  and  wife  live 
in  discord,  when  strife  and  contention  mar  the  sacred  joys  of  the 
domestic  circle,  when  harmony  and  mutual  forbearance  cease  to 
characterize  this  most  holy  of  all  human  relationships,  then  hap- 
piness makes  itself  wings  and  flies  from  the  home,  leaving  it  a 
dreary  and  comfortless  place  indeed.  Oh,  if  those,  who  by  reason 
of  stubbornness  and  bad  temper  indulge  in  these  domestic  skir- 
mishes, would  think  of  the  unspeakable  joys  which  they  thus 
thoughtlessly  cast  away;  if  they  would  consider  that  by  these 
contentions  they  not  only  embitter  their  own  lives  but  also  the 
lives  of  their  innocent  children,  robbing  them  of  that  great  boon, 
the  memory  of  a  happy  home,  they  would  more  carefully  en- 
deavor to  preserve  peace  in  their  family  life,  even  though  such 
peace  would  involve  the  sacrifice  of  some  selfishness  and  the 
abandonment  of  a  little  pride. 

However,  peace  alone  is  not  sufficient  to  make  an  ideal  home. 
The  white  flag  of  truce  may  wave  over  the  hearth  and  yet,  it  is 
felt,  that  something  is  missing  to  complete  its  happiness.  The 
atmosphere  of  the  home  should  be  pervaded  by  the  spirit 
of  Love.  Tenderness,  considerateness,  tact  and  sympathy 
will  then  be  exhibited  in  every  act,  no  matter  how  indif- 
ferent and  common-place.  There  are,  unfortunately,  many 
homes  where  these  qualities  are  wanting,  and  where  the 
canker-worm  of  discontent  destroyed  the  tender  blossoms  of 
affection.  Love  does  not  thrive  in  the  frigid  atmosphere  of  in- 
difference. Many  husbands,  engrossed  in  business,  fail  to  devote 
sufficient  time  and  attention  to  their  families^  It  is  not  enough 
that  the  husband  provides  the  necessities  of  life  for  his  family. 
To  make  them  truly  happy  he  must  give  them  himself,  his  time, 
his  love  and  his  devotion.  Those  men  who  seek  for  rest  and 


HOME.  29 

recreation  in  the  club  room  have  to  blame  their  own  neglect  if 
the  home  proves  disappointing  to  them. 

The  wife,  however,  has  the  lion's  share  in  making  the  home 
an  Eden  of  sweet  harmony.  I  read  somewhere  that  the  English 
word  "wife"  is  supposed  to  be  derived  from  the  word  "weave," 
meaning  one  who  weaves.  Originally  it  referred  to  the  custom 
obtained  in  olden  times  that  the  wife  wove  with  her  hands  the 
garments  of  her  husband.  She  is  no  longer  required  to  do  this. 
But  she  still  has  the  power  of  weaving  her  husband's  happiness 
and  prosperity.  There  is  many  a  man  who  owes  his  success  in 
life  to  the  blessed  influence,  the  co-operation  and  the  gentle  guid- 
ance of  his  helpmate.  Woman's  home-making  power  is  very 
great.  A  Jewish  sage  said  that  wife  and  home  are  synonymous. 
A  woman 's  influence  can  either  make  of  home  heaven  or  hell.  By 
her  tact,  her  gentleness,  her  common  sense  and  her  self-sacrifice 
she  can  brighten  the  home  and  make  it  a  joy  and  a  delight  to 
husband  and  children ;  or  by  her  selfishness,  her  irritableness, 
her  bad  temper,  her  nagging  and  fault-finding,  she  can  make 
life  burdensome  and  kindle  the  fires  of  Hades  upon  the  hearth. 

If  she  understands  her  duties,  and  knows  the  secret  power  of  ' 
a  smiling  face,  and  of  a  soft  answer,  she  will  find  it  easy  to  keep 
her  husband  at  home,  where  he  belongs.     Husband  and  wife 
should  so  live  that  it  should  become  true  of  them : 

"They  share  all  troubles,  and  by  sharing  halve  them; 
"They  share  all  pleasures,  and  by  sharing  double  them." 

But  the  picture  of  a  happy  home  is  not  yet  complete. 
Religion  is  an  essential  factor  to  make  a  home  ideal  in  its  happi-. 
ness,  harmony  and  love.  Let  us  suppose  a  family  that  live  in 
peace  and  devotion,  but  disregard  the  eternal  laws  of  justice,  of 
honesty,  of  brotherly  love,  of  charity  and  of  religion.  Are  they 
truly  happy  ?  If  their  conscience  has  some  spark  of  life,  does  it 
not  torment  them  with  terrible  remorse  and  pangs?  Can  the 
members  of  the  family  have  respect  for  one  another  when  in 
their  midst  justice  is  outraged  and  virtue  is  insulted  ?  Can  they 
have  the  respect  of  their  fellow-men  when  the  world  knows  them 
as  sinful  and  selfish,  as  mean  and  dishonest?  Without  self- 
respect  and  the  respect  of  your  fellows  no  happiness  can  exist. 
In  order  to  obtain  that  boon  there  must  be  in  your  soul  a  high 
regard  for  righteousness  and  moral  principles.  All  evil  acts 
must  be  shunned  and  sin  must  be  abhorred.  The  ideas  of  honor, 
of  virtue  and  of  fairness  must  be  constantly  taught  and  exempli- 


30  HOME. 

fied  by  the  elders  so  that  they  find  lodgement  in  the  heart  and 
strike  deep  root  in  the  soul  of  the  young.  Do  you  wish  to  know 
how  to  make  a  happy  home?  Take  God  into  it.  It  has  been 
truly  said  that  "  If  no  window  opens  into  heaven,  it  is  not  a  true 
home. ' '  Jewish  homes  have  as  a  rule  been  happy  because  Religion 
was  their  foundation  and  Virtue  their  fairest  jewel.  The  fear 
of  God  permeated  them.  Fidelity  to  Law  was  their  marked 
characteristic.  The  spirit  of  prayer  suffused  its  elevating  and 
ennobling  influence  over  all  the  members  of  the  family.  The 
home  was  a  veritable  sanctuary  where  the  sweet  sacrifices  of 
mutual  respect,  of  conjugal  affection,  parental  duty  and  filial 
obedience  were  willingly  brought  upon  the  altar  of  God.  Because 
such  was  the  Jewish  home,  Judaism  still  is. 

Of  late,  however,  the  Jewish  home  has  abandoned  a  good 
many  of  those  features  which  once  entitled  it  to  the  appellation 
"holy."  Religion  is  banished  from  its  midst.  The  voice  of 
prayer  is  no  longer  heard  in  its  precincts.  Reverence  for  things 
sacred  is  not  inculcated.  The  spirit  of  skepticism  and  of  infidelity 
has  crept  into  our  homes,  causing  ravages  and  loosening  the 
tender  bonds  of  love  and  of  affection.  If  these  conditions  con- 
tinue, God  help  our  children!  Your  children  are  thirsting  for 
faith,  they  are  yearning  for  the  prop  of  religion  to  support  them 
in  life's  battles.  Why  deny  to  them  this  precious  boon?  A 
prayerless,  Godless  and  irreligious  home  is  a  cheerless  place  for 
childhood  to  unfold  and  for  youth  to  develop.  It  is  a  calamity 
whose  evil  influence  can  be  detected  in  character  until  the 
close  of  life.  Banish,  then,  the  serpent  of  irreligion  from  the 
Eden  of  your  home.  Cultivate  in  it  the  noble  virtues  of  Peace, 
Love  and  Faith,  and  then,  whether  it  be  rich  or  poor,  whether 
a  humble  cottage  or  a  proud  palace,  yours  will  be  the  sweetest 
home  in  the  world,  whose  influence  will  be  perpetual,  and  whose 
fragrance  will  bless  all  who  come  beneath  its  roof —yea,  it  will 
flourish  "like  a  tree  planted  by  the  rivers  of  water,  that  bringeth 
forth  his  fruit  in  his  season,  and  whose  leaf  shall  never  wither." 

AMEN. 


HOPE 


TEXT:— "Why  art  thou  cast  down,  O  my  soul?  and  why  art  thou  dis- 
quieted in  me?  Hope  thou  in  God:  for  I  shall  yet  praise  Him  for  the  help  of 
His  countenance. "—(Psalm  XLII,  5.) 

LESSING  once  said:  "If  the  All-powerful  Being  holding  in 
one  hand  Truth  and  in  the  other  the  search  for  truth,  said  to 
me,  'Choose,'  I  would  answer  him,  '0,  All-powerful,  keep  for 
Thyself  the  Truth,  but  leave  to  me  the  search  for  it,  which  is 
the  better  for  me. ' '  What  this  thinker  said  of  truth  I  can  justly 
state  of  hope.  "If  the  All-powerful  Being  holding  in  one  hand 
the  realization  of  all  human  desires  and  in  the  other  hope,  said 
to  me  'Choose,'  I  would  answer  him,  0,  All-powerful,  keep  for 
Thyself  reality,  but  leave  to  me  hope  which  is  the  better  for  me. ' ' 
For  were  I  in  the  possession  of  all  things  that  the  boldest  imagi- 
nation can  conjure  up,  lacking  hope,  I  would  still  lack  the  zest 
for  life  and  would  find  existence  tortured  by  monotony.  Treas- 
ures would  lose  their  value  and  pleasures  their  charm  if  not 
spiced  by  the  expectation  of  to-morrow's  new  and  unknown  joys. 
Let  man  be  placed  into  an  Eden  of  Happiness  where  lovely  flow- 
ers blossom  in  perpetual  spring  and  where  all  his  desires  are 
anticipated,  but  where  hope  is  unknown,  and  he  would  gladly  ex- 
change such  Eden  for  a  place  where  toil  and  sorrow  are  mingled 
with  the  sweet  drops  of  hope  for  better  days.  Great  is  the  bless- 
ing of  hope,  unsurpassed  by  any  other  gift  by  which  Providence 
has  blessed  humanity.  Hope  is  the  sunshine  of  the  soul ;  without 
it  our  inner  life  would  become  barren  and  bare  even  as  the  earth 
plunged  in  darkness.  Hope  is  like  the  dew  and  rain  unto  vege- 
tation ;  without  it  our  blossoms  of  joy  would  fade  and  wither. 

Because  such  is  hope,  God  has  made  it  a  universal  gift  and 
has  not  withheld  it  from  his  lowliest  creatures.  Even  as  the  stars 
shine  most  brilliantly  in  the  moonless  sky,  so  does  hope  flourish 
most  luxuriantly  in  hearts  devoid  of  all  other  joys.  "The  miser- 
able," says  Shakespeare,  "have  no  other  medicine  but  only 
hope. ' '  Dark  and  dreary  is  the  hovel  of  the  poor  where  hunger 
and  privation  like  two  evil  demons  stand  at  the  threshold  and 
keep  joy  and  happiness  from  entering ;  yet  as  Ibng  as  the  angel 
of  hope  hovers  over  the  fireside,  despair  is  kept  at  a  distance. 


32  HOPE. 

You  enter  the  chamber  of  the  sick.  The  sufferer  is  tossing 
in  agony ;  the  beloved  ones  walk  gently  and  speak  quietly  and  on 
every  face  there  is  anxiety,  fear  and  grief.  Yet  even  this  atmos- 
phere of  gloomy  forebodings  is  pervaded  by  the  perfume  of  hope. 
The  lamp  of  life  may  be  burning  ever  so  low,  yet  the  pure  oil  of 
celestial  hope  lends  its  flickering  flame  unnatural  radiance. 
When  reason  has  folded  its  hands  in  impotence  and  even  love  is 
ready  to  give  way  to  helplessness,  hope  refuses  to  leave  the  battle- 
field and  assiduously  fans  the  glimmering  spark  of  life. 

Even  unto  the  breaking  eyes  of  the  dying  hope  presents 
the  lovely  picture  of  immortality.  It  pierces  the  darkness  of 
the  sepulchre  and  penetrates  the  hidden  realms  of  death.  It 
soothes  the  heart  of  the  bereft  with  the  promise  of  a  tearless  re- 
union in  the  hereafter,  when  the  garments  of  mortality  shall  have 
been  doffed  and  the  white  robes  of  eternity  shall  clothe  us  with 
glory  and  joy. 

I  know  of  no  ill  or  woe  to  which  hope  is  not  an  antidote. 
To  him  that  is  oppressed  by  tyranny  hope  whispers,  "Wait, 
endure,  and  strive,  for  the  day  of  reckoning  is  coming."  To  the 
slave  drudging  at  the  treadmill  it  paints  a  picture  of  freedom 
and  of  enlargement.  To  the  captive  pining  in  the  dungeon  it 
lights  up  thegloom  with  dreams  of  liberty.  Unto  the  victims  of 
malice,  hop£  promises  redress;  unto  the  defeated  it  speaks  of 
future  victory.  Well  does  the  poet  exclaim : 

"Auspicious  Hope!  in  thy  sweet  garden  grow 
Wreaths  for  each  toil,  a  charm  for  every  woe. ' ' 

Hope  causes  men  to  act  as  well  as  to  endure.  The  sweat-shop 
toiler  works  amidst  the  most  miserable  conditions  of  poverty  and 
squalor.  Amidst  the  dreary  monotony  of  the  whizzing  and 
whirring  wheels  his  humanity,  his  ambition,  his  aspirations 
would  vanish  and  leave  him  a  living  corpse,  an  automaton,  a 
human  machine.  But  sweet  hope  is  there  to  cheer  him  and  to 
change  the  soul-killing  noises  into  gentle  harmonies.  Thinking 
of  his  little  ones  at  home,  the  sweat-shop  worker  says :  "My  chil- 
dren shall  not  be  as  their  father  was;  my  drudgery  is  not  for 
self,  but  for  love's  sake ;  the  sweat  of  my  brow  is  oil  in  the  lamp 
of  love;  I  will  light  it  to-night  on  the  sacred  altar  of  home."* 
The  hope  in  the  far-off  future  with  its  better  conditions  is  a 
balsam  to  his  wounds  and  instils  sweet  drops  of  comfort  into 
his  cup  of  bitterness. 

•HilliB. 


HOPE.  33 

In  a  dimly-lighted  room  of  a  tenement  house  sits  a  sad 
woman.  Poverty  and  distress  are  her  companions.  The  past  was 
one  bitter  struggle.  The  present  is  unremitting  drudgery.  But 
by  her  side  in  a  cradle  lies  the  budding  hope  of  a  brighter  future. 
Affectionately  bending  over  her  infant  she  sings  softly  the 
lullaby  that  tells  of  his  future  achievements.  Out  of  the  dis- 
tressing surroundings  of  reality,  hope  lifts  her  into  the  visionary 
realms  of  Dreamland  where  misery  and  want  are  unknown. 

What  is  it  that  spurs  the  young  man  to  industry  and  enter- 
prise? What  is  it  that  impels  the  student  to  deprive  himself  of 
enjoyment  and  to  burn  the  midnight  oil  while  bending  over  the 
ponderous  tomes  of  wisdom  ?  What  is  it  that  causes  the  aspiring 
artist  to  spend  years  in  the  patient  endeavor  to  acquire  the  tech- 
nical skill  that  is  the  basis  of  all  artistic  attainment?  It  is  this 
divine  faculty  of  hope  for  plenteous  recompense,  for  success,  for 
happiness  and  for  glory  which  strengthens  our  sinews  and  steels 
our  will;  that  lends  us  courage,  patience  and  perseverance  to 
battle  bravely  with  the  difficulties  that  may  chance  to  block  our 
way. 

A  spirit  of  hopefulness  or  an  optimistic  belief  that  things  will 
gradually  improve,  is  an  essential  to  success  in  life.  Sooner  will 
the  sun  make  its  appearance  at  midnight  than  success  will  come 
to  him  whose  soul  is  plunged  in  the  gloom  of  pessimism.  Half- 
hearted, despondent,  easily-discouraged  people  never  amount  to 
much  in  this  world.  I  care  not  how  well  endowed  you  may  be 
with  talents,  if  you  lack  the  disposition  of  discerning  the  silver 
lining  behind  the  cloud,  and  you  do  not  believe  that  after  the 
storm  the  sun  will  shine  again,  and  the  birds  will  sing  merrily — 
in  a  word,  if  you  are  not  hopeful  you  have  in  yourself  a  guar- 
antee of  failure.  We  are  told  by  Lubbock  that  Joseph  Hume 
used  to  say  that  he  would  rather  have  a  cheerful  disposition  than 
an  estate  of  £10,000  a  year.  This  is  true  not  only  from  a  senti- 
mental standpoint,  but  also  from  the  practical  side.  The  great 
achievements  of  history  were  accomplished  by  the  hopeful,  the 
optimistic  and  the  brave.  Had  Columbus  been  of  a  gloomy  dis- 
position this  continent  would  probably  still  be  the  hunting 
ground  of  savages  and  the  haunt  of  buffaloes.  Had  Robert  Ful- 
ton been  of  a  pessimistic  nature  when  in  1807,  amidst  the  greatest 
difficulties,  he  launched  the  first  steamboat  on  the  Hudson  River, 
we  would  not  have  to-day  the  wonderful  floating  palaces  crossing 
the  Atlantic  and  uniting  two  continents  into  one."  When  Morse 
invented  the  telegraph  his  friends  laughed  at  him.  He  turned 


34  HOPE. 

to  France,  to  England  and  to  the  United  States  for  assistance, 
but  not  a  word  of  encouragement  came  from  anywhere.  Had  he 
lacked  courage  and  hope  the  world  would  have  been  deprived  of 
the  greatest  invention  of  the  nineteenth  century.  All  these  great 
inventors  understood  that  "to  know  how  to  wait  is  the  secret  of 
success. ' '  As  the  Eastern  proverb  puts  it :  "  Time  and  patience 
change  the  mulberry  leaf  to  satin. ' ' 

The  hopeful  spirit  is  necessary  not  only  to  great  achieve- 
ments, but  also  to  an  ordinary  life  of  usefulness  and  duty.  As 
long  as  the  lamp  of  hope  illumines  our  path  we  are  apt  to  go 
ahead,  no  matter  how  rocky  and  thorny  that  path  may  be.  Hope 
makes  us  cling  to  the  post  of  duty  amidst  the  most  disagreeable 
conditions.  Whether  we  toil  with  muscle  or  with  brain  hope 
lends  us  strength  and  zeal  and  doubles  our  capacity  to  do  and 
to  suffer.  Times  there  are  when  conditions  are  disheartening 
and  when  the  lack  of  encouragement  induces  us  to  abandon  our 
tasks.  The  teacher  toils  conscientiously  and  patiently  to  mould 
the  soul  and  the  character  of  the  child.  Sometimes  all  toil  seems 
to  be  vain.  No  improvement  or  progress  is  discernible,  and  the 
heart  is  saddened  by  ingratitude  and  lack  of  appreciation.  The 
preacher  teaches  the  word  of  God  week  after  week.  He  sows  the 
seeds  of  faith  and  of  virtue  into  hearts  that  often  seem  barren 
and  yield  no  fruit.  His  voice  seems  to  be  like  a  voice  in  the 
wilderness ;  his  labors  like  the  wasted  toil  of  the  Danaides  whose 
punishment  was  to  incessantly  pour  water  into  bottomless 
buckets.  The  civic  reformer  endeavors  to  improve  the  character 
of  the  government  and  to  raise  the  moral  status  of  the  commun- 
ity. But  his  efforts,  too,  seem  futile.  Old  corruptions  thought 
to  be  buried  raise  their  head  again.  The  ancient  evils  against 
which  the  prophets  of  old  lifted  their  clarion  voices  still  impede 
the  progress  of  justice  and  of  righteousness.  As  of  yore  might 
usurps  right  and  the  powerful  tread  upon  the  weak.  Thus  we 
see  that  there  are  apparent  reasons  for  discouragement  at  times 
in  all  departments  of  human  endeavor,  and  he  whose  moral  fibre 
is  not  strong  enough  is  apt  to  fold  his  hands  and  idly  bemoan 
the  wickedness  and  hopelessness  of  the  world. 

But  we  must  beware  against  these  discordant  notes  issuing 
from  a  heart  out  of  tune.  The  world  is  not  as  bad  as  the  croak- 
ing pessimists  would  make  it.  On  a  whole,  the  world  is  steadily 
growing  better.  History  tells  us  of  no  period  when  men  were 
free  from  imperfection  and  evil.  The  "good  old  times"  that 
aged  people  like  to  speak  about,  I  am  afraid,  were  no_better  than 


HOPE.  35 

ours,  and  perhaps  much  worse.  If  our  efforts  are  not  crowned 
with  immediate  success,  there  is  no  reason  for  despair.  Look  at 
the  farmer!  He  buries  the  seed  in  the  soil  and  for  months  sees 
no  sign  of  growth.  But  hope  tells  him  that  the  coming  spring 
will  lure  from  the  bosom  of  the  earth  a  rich  harvest.  Why 
should  we  expect  that  the  seeds  of  moral,  religious  or  civic  en- 
deavor should  sprout  into  instantaneous  fruition?  "Cast  thy 
bread  upon  the  waters  for  thou  shalt  find  it  after  many  days." 

"Never  yet  a  spoken  word 
But  in  echo  it  was  heard; 
Never  was  a  living  thought, 
But  some  magic  it  has  wrought. 
And  no  deed  was  ever  done 
That  has  died  from  under  sun. ' ' 

Would  you  be  successful  in  life,  would  you  become  eminent 
in  any  calling  or  pursuit,  would  you  be  useful  to  your  fellow- 
men,  would  you  perform  your  duty  to  God  and  to  your  neighbor  ? 
You  can  accomplish  none  of  these  without  first  learning  the  les- 
son of  hopefulness. 

Despair  is  both  a  sin  and  a  punishment,  while  hopefulness 
is  both  a  religious  duty  and  a  blessing.  When  we  grow  des- 
pondent we  show  our  mistrust  in  God  and  in  His  loving  kindness. 
Thus  it  comes  that  the  truly  religious  man  is  hopeful,  cheerful 
and  optimistic.  I  am  well  aware  that  there  are  many  so-called 
religious  people  to  whom  merriment  and  cheer  smack  of  folly 
and  of  wickedness.  But  these  straight-laced  and  sour-faced  chil- 
dren of  darkness  are  very  far  from  a  true  conception  of  religion. 
While  I  cannot  speak  authoritatively  of  other  creeds,  I  can  state 
of  Judaism  that  it  is  a  religion  of  hope.  Israel's  gospel  is  a 
gospel  of  joy.  In  the  very  first  chapter  of  the  Bible  we  read: 
"And  God  saw  everything  that  he  had  made,  and  behold  it  was 
very  good."  (Genesis  I,  31.)  "Serve  the  Lord  with  joy." 
(Psalm  C,  2)  is  the  spirit  of  the  Scriptures.  Numerous  are  the 
occasions  on  which  the  Israelite  is  commanded  to  rejoice.  He  is 
enjoined  to  rejoice  in  his  festivals  and  to  call  the  Sabbath  a 
delight.  Hopefulness  pervades  the  utterances  of  the  prophets. 
Looking  around  them  and  observing  idolatry  and  bloodshed,  they 
did  not  despair  of  the  final  redemption  of  the  human  race  and 
saw  the  beautiful  vision  of  a  golden  age  of  peace  and  of  universal 
enlightenment  in  the  far-off  future.  When  the  enemies  were 
mighty  over  Israel  the  prophet  proclaimed  the  message  of  hope 
in  the  beautiful  words:  "In  the  future  shall  Jacob  yet  take 


36  HOPE. 

root,  Israel  shall  bud  and  blossom,  and  shall  fill  the  face  of  the 
world  with  fruit."    (Isaiah  XXVII,  6.) 

The  sages  counted  cheer  and  hope  among  the  noble  virtues 
and  despondency  among  the  worst  of  vices.  "The  Shechinah" 
(divine  presence),  says  the  Talmud,  "does  not  rest  upon  a  man 
who  is  in  a  state  of  abject  gloom,  or  who  is  idle  or  frivolous,  but 
upon  him  who  is  joyous  in  consequence  of  duty  performed." 

It  was  fortunate  for  our  forefathers  that  they  absorbed  this 
joyous  doctrine  of  hopefulness.  It  gave  them  courage  to  endure 
sufferings  which  otherwise  might  have  annihilated  them.  Hope 
cheered  their  miserable  lives  and  pointed  to  better  days.  Hope 
lighted  up  the  Ghetto  when  reality  was  dark  and  dreary.  Hope 
inspired  faith  in  the  coming  of  the  Messiah  and  in  the  Messianic 
•T;I.  when  liberty  and  equality  shall  bind  all  men  into  one  brother- 
hood. 

It  is  well  that  Israel  of  to-day  still  hopes.  All  chains  are  not 
yet  broken.  Tyranny  is  still  raising  aloft  its  hideous  head. 
Many  of  our  brethren  are  still  laboring  under  oppressive  laws 
and  amidst  hostile  surroundings.  The  twentieth  century  has  not 
fulfilled  its  promise.  But  hope  still  abides  with  us.  To  some 
it  whispers  of  a  New  Zion  and  of  a  regenerated  people  on  the 
ancient  soil  of  Israel ;  to  others  it  tells  of  an  enlightened  human- 
ity that  is  to  be  which  will  embrace  lovingly  the  outcast,  Israel. 
But  whether  salvation  comes  from  the  East  or  from  the  West 
we  feel  that  come  it  must. 

And  so  let  us  learn  the  lesson  of  hope.  When  we  have 
mastered  it  thoroughly  we  will  know  better  how  to  grapple  with 
obstacles  and  to  make  defeats  stepping-stones  to  victories.  We 
will  then  cheerfully  and  serenely  toil  for  beloved  ones,  for  fellow- 
men  and  for  country  irrespective  of  recognition,  gratitude  or 
glory.  We  shall  then  have  a  sure  antidote  against  care  that 
causes  premature  wrinkles  and  against  fretting  and  chafing  con- 
cerning the  daily  buffetings  to  which  Dame  Fortune  pleases  to 
subject  us.  We  will  not  shed  fruitless  tears  for  mishaps  that 
come  or  misfortunes  that  might  come,  for  we  shall  hope  in  God. 

AMEN. 


*THE  BLESSINGS  OF  RELIGION. 


TEXT:— "Not  by  might,  nor  by  power,  but  by  My  spirit  saith  the  Lord 
of  hosts."— (Zechariah  IV,  6.) 

IT  must  be  admitted  that  this  is  not  a  religious  age.  It  is  an 
epoch  of  steam  and  electricity,  of  scientific  research,  of  inventions 
and  of  industrial  and  commercial  combinations.  This  unpre- 
cedented material  progress  has  in  a  measure  overshadowed  the 
spiritual  elements  of  life.  Man  has  become  skeptical,  self-suffi- 
cient, arrogant,  materialistic,  craving  for  pleasure  and  for 
wealth.  A  shallow  rationalism  has  taken  hold  of  the  masses  not 
thorough  enough  to  deserve  the  name  of  true  culture,  but  suffi- 
cient to  make  them  irreverent  scoffers  and  skeptics.  It  is  quite 
a  common  thing  nowadays  to  hear  men  of  very  little  education 
speak  lightly  of  religion  and  to  condemn  it  with  one  sweeping 
statement  as  so  much  superstition  or  hypocrisy. 

Would  those,  whom  a  little  knowledge  changed  into  scoffers, 
delve  more  deeply  into  the  mine  of  wisdom,  they  would  speak 
more  respectfully  of  Religion,  the  institution  which  brings  man 
nearer  to  God.  Well  has  Francis  Bacon  said  that  "a  little  phil- 
osophy inclineth  man's  mind  to  atheism,  but  depth  in  philosophy 
bringeth  men's  minds  about  to  religion."  Few  of  the  really 
great  thinkers  have  denied  the  existence  of  a  Supreme  Being. 
A  few  days  ago  the  greatest  thinker  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
Herbert  Spencer,  closed  his  brilliant  career.  He  is  considered 
the  apostle  of  agnosticism  and  many  of  the  superficial  readers 
of  his  profound  works  were  influenced  by  them  to  have  a  con- 
tempt for  religion.  And  yet  even  Spencer  says  that ' '  the  truly  re- 
ligious element  of  religion  has  always  been  good ;  that  which  has 
proved  untenable  in  doctrine  and  vicious  in  practice  has  been 
its  irreligious  element. ' '  The  prophets  of  atheism  that  abounded 
in  the  time  of  Voltaire  and  Paine  have  proven  false  prophets,  for 
their  doctrine  failed  to  satisfy  the  yearnings  of  man.  The  phil- 
osophers and  scientists  of  this  age,  if  they  are  not  identified  with 
the  Church,  yet  exhibit  a  sympathy  for  religion  and  admit  that 
it  has  been  the  most  powerful  factor  in  the  progress  of  humanity. 

*  Preached  on  the  eve  of  Sabbath  Chanuceah  56154. 


38  THE   BLESSINGS   OF    RELIGION. 

Such  writers  and  thinkers  as  John  Ruskin  and  John  Fiske  speak 
of  religion  with  great  reverence.  The  latter  in  his  excellent 
book,  "The  Idea  of  God,"  says  "The  Deity  is  knowable  as  the 
Power  which  is  disclosed  in  every  throb  of  the  mighty  rhythmic 
life  of  the  universe;  knowable  as  the  eternal  source  of  a  moral 
law  which  is  implicated  with  each  action  of  our  lives,  and  in 
obedience  to  which  lies  our  only  guaranty  of  the  happiness  which 
is  incorruptible,  and  which  neither  inevitable  misfortune  nor 
unmerited  obloquy  can  take  away. ' ' 

As  we  study  nature  and  its  marvelous  laws  we  are  utterly 
unable  to  find  a  satisfactory  explanation  of  the  things  about  us 
unless  we  turn  to  religion  for  an  answer.  Seeing  the  wonderful 
regularity  and  adaptation  in  the  life  and  growth  of  the  number- 
less organisms  in  this  world,  seeing  how  everything  in  nature's 
household  has  its  place  and  purpose,  we  must  come  to  a  conclu- 
sion that  there  is  a  Providence  that  rules  and  governs  all  things 
as  well  as  a  Power  that  brought  them  into  existence.  Like  the 
Psalmist  of  old,  the  modern  student  of  nature  "when  he  considers 
the  heavens,  the  moon  and  the  stars"  and  the  infinite  worlds 
revolving  in  everlasting  harmony  must  be  moved  on  the  one  hand 
to  a  sense  of  humility  and  exclaim :  "What  is  man  that  thou  art 
mindful  of  him?  And  the  son  of  man,  that  thou  visitest  him?" 
And  on  the  other  hand,  recognizing  that  "the  events  of  the 
Universe  cannot  be  the  work  of  chance,  neither  the  outcome  of 
blind  necessity,"  but  "that  this  vast  machinery  and  enginery 
of  earth  and  heaven  must  be  the  products  of  infinite  power  in 
which  infinite  wisdom  lies  hidden,"  he  is  impelled  to  fall  on  his 
knees  and  worship :  "  0  Lord  our  God  how  excellent  is  Thy  name 
in  all  the  earth!" 

Indeed,  religion  is  the  only  key  that  can  solve  the  puzzle  of 
existence.  In  spite  of  the  great  progress  that  science  has  been 
making  it  cannot  throw  any  light  upon  the  origin  and  destiny 
of  man.  Philosophy  can  never  answer  the  burning  questions: 
"Whence  comest  thou?  and  whither  dost  thou  go?"  But  the 
religious  man  humbly  answers:  "I  am  a  child  of  God;  put 
here  for  character  building  by  my  heavenly  Father  and  I  hope 
through  my  good  deeds  to  earn  for  myself  eternal  life  in 
Heaven  ! ' '  Had  religion  accomplished  nothing  else  than  to  have 
thus  invested  existence  with  a  raison  d'etre  and  human  life  with 
purpose  and  dignity,  it  would  be  the  greatest  boon  that  has  ever 
been  granted  to  man. 


THE    BLESSINGS    OF    RELIGION.  39 

But  religion  is  more  than  a  philosophy.  It  is  a  force  which 
tends  to  make  man  better  and  happier.  In  considering  this 
aspect  of  religion  we  are  no  longer  concerned  with  abstract  spec- 
ulation, but  with  concrete,  historical  facts.  Not  all  men  are  given 
to  philosophical  speculation.  There  are  people  whom  the 
"why?"  and  "wherefore?"  of  things  do  not  interest.  They  go 
through  life  without  ever  bestowing  thought  on  the  purpose  and 
destiny  of  existence.  They  are  intensely  practical  and  focus  all 
their  energies  upon  the  bread-and-butter  affairs  of  life,  besides 
which  all  else  sinks  into  insignificance.  For  the  sake  of  these  mat- 
ter-of-fact children  of  the  twentieth  century  let  us  look  at  religion 
from  a  practical,  I  am  almost  tempted  to  say,  from  a  utilitarian 
standpoint.  Is  there  any  one  so  "practical"  as  not  to  appreciate 
the  blessings  of  liberty  ?  Yet  it  is  a  fact  admitted  by  all  that  this 
fair  flower  of  humanity  without  which  life  is  worse  than  death, 
has  grown  in  the  garden  of  religion.  The  Decalogue  declares 
God  as  the  God  of  liberty:  "I  am  the  Lord  thy  God  who  has 
brought  thee  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  out  of  the  house  of 
slavery."  It  is  the  Bible  which  contains  that  golden  text  of 
freedom :  ' '  Proclaim  liberty  throughout  all  the  land  unto  all  the 
inhabitants  thereof."  It  is  the  religion  of  Israel  that  dictated 
festivals  such  as  "Chanuccah"  to  celebrate  the  victories  of  a 
people  fighting  for  liberty. 

Again,  is  there  any  one  so  matter-of-fact  as  to  undervalue 
the  virtue  of  honesty?  Without  this  virtue  civilization  could 
not  last  and  governments  would  soon  dissolve  in  anarchy.  Yet 
it  is  religion  more  than  any  other  power  that  teaches  men  the 
sacredness  of  property  and  impresses  the  would-be  offender  with 
the  heinousness  of  the  crime  of  stealing  and  robbing.  In  coun- 
tries where  the  Bible  is  unknown  and  where  paganism  rules 
supreme  the  vice  of  dishonesty  is  so  widespread  that  it  clogs  the 
wheels  of  progress.  I  read  that  some  years  ago,  after  the  Shah 
of  Persia  had  visited  Europe,  on  coming  home  to  his  native  land 
he  undertook  to  inaugurate  a  postoffice  system  there.  But  the 
fundamental  conditions  of  honesty  were  wanting,  and  he  was 
obliged  to  abandon  the  effort.  If  we  have  the  ideas  of  integrity, 
of  uprightness  and  of  justice  engraved  in  our  being,  let  us  remem- 
ber that  it  was  the  finger  of  God  that  inscribed  them  upon  the 
tablets  of  our  hearts,  and  that  our  morality  is  a  result  of  centuries 
of  training  under  the  ennobling  influences  of  the  Bible  and  the 
Religion  of  the  Bible. 


40  THE   BLESSINGS   OF    RELIGION. 

Nor  is  religion  satisfied  with  mere  honesty.  It  teaclies 
brotherly  love,  kindness,  charity  and  helpfulness.  Tt  says,  it  is 
not  sufficient  that  you  do  not  dishonestly  appropriate  what  be- 
longs to  your  neighbor,  it  is  your  duty  to  help  him  when  he  is  in 
distress,  to  uplift  him  when  he  has  stumbled,  to  feed  him  when 
he  is  hungry,  to  clothe  him  when  he  is  naked,  to  console  him 
when  he  is  sad,  to  encourage  him  when  he  is  in  despair.  Religion 
says,  all  men  are  brothers,  children  of  one  Heavenly  Father;  it 
behooves  them  to  dwell  together  in  peace  and  love  and  mutual 
sympathy;  it  is  their  duty  to  make  humanity  one  loving  family 
where  strife  and  war,  bloodshed  and  enmity  shall  be  unknown, 
and  where  goodwill  and  harmony  shall  rule  supreme.  "Beauti- 
ful ideal !"  you  say,  "but  has  it  ever  been  realized?"  Certainly 
not;  but  because  human  brotherhood  has  not  yet  been  realized 
there  is  even  more  reason  to  hold  aloft  the  banner  whose  motto 
is,  "The  Fatherhood  of  Good  and  the  Brotherhood  of  Man"; 
because  man  is  still  deficient,  cruel,  uncharitable,  blood-thirsty 
and  warlike,  we  must  continue  to  cherish  that  mighty  influence 
that  has  in  the  past  contributed  more  than  any  other  factor 
to  the  elevation  of  man  from  savagery  and  brutality.  For 
it  cannot  be  denied  that  man  has  advanced  in  peacefulness,  in 
righteousness  and  in  charity.  Compare  the  average  man  of  to- 
day with  the  average  man  of  antiquity,  as  far  as  we  can  get  a 
knowledge  of  him  by  the  help  of  history,  and  you  will  be  aston- 
ished how  the  ancient  savage  who  lived  by  his  sword  has  devel- 
oped into  the  refined  and  law-abiding  gentleman  of  to-day.  Now, 
I  claim,  and  with  me  are  not  only  the  exponents  of  all  religious 
denominations  in  the  civilized  world  but  also  its  scientists  and 
historians,  that  the  most  important  element  in  the  upliftment  of 
humanity  to  its  present  degree  of  culture  has  been  the  religious 
element  and  particularly  those  religions  that  drew  their  inspira- 
tion and  their  ideas  of  ethics  from  Israel's  Bible. 

A  glance  at  those  countries  where  men  are  still  plunged  in 
the  abyss  of  heathenism,  revealing  to  us  a  horrible  condition  of 
selfishness,  of  sensuality,  of  ignorance,  and  of  immorality,  makes 
it  as  plain  as  any  truth  can  possibly  be  demonstrated  that  all 
our  civilization,  our  culture,  our  refinement,  our  education,  our 
ideas  of  government,  of  charity  and  of  justice  have  come  to  us 
from  the  great  fountain-head  of  all  human  progress— Religion. 
And  does  it  not  follow  that,  if  we  wish  to  preserve,  to  develop  and 
to  increase  these  priceless  blessings  for  ourselves  and  for  our 
children,  we  must  see  to  it  that  the  fountain  whence  they  sprang 


THE    BLESSINGS   OF    RELIGION.  41 

be  not  sealed  up  by  the  stones  that  the  skeptics  and  the  scoffers 
ungratefully  cast  into  it? 

Israel,  in  particular,  ought  to  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  their 
ancestors  and  be  faithful  to  their  mission  of  proclaiming  godli- 
ness and  goodness  among  the  children  of  men.  Religion  is  the 
peculiar  heritage  of  the  Jewish  people.  While  we  do  not  attempt 
to  monopolize  this  blessing  and  are  gladly  willing  to  share  it  with 
the  rest  of  humanity,  still  it  is  but  stating  a  fact,  that  if  not  for 
Israel,  the  religious  and  moral  strivings  of  the  world  could  have 
never  attained  to  their  present  state.  Faith,  devotion,  holiness 
and  purity  are  the  precious  gifts  of  Israel  to  the  treasure-house 
of  humanity.  The  few  earnest  men  that  thousands  of  years  ago 
amidst  the  hills  of  Judea  dreamed  and  hoped  and  yearned  for 
an  enlightened  and  righteous  humanity  have  had  more  influence 
upon  mankind's  moral  development  than  all  the  other  teachers 
and  moralists  of  the  human  race  combined.  Whoever  reads  his- 
tory aright  must  confess  that  "out  of  Zion  came  forth  the  Law 
and  the  word  of  the  Lord  out  of  Jerusalem. ' ' 

The  historical  associations  that  cluster  about  the  beautiful 
Festival  of  Chanuccah  that  we  now  celebrate  prove  this  assertion 
most  strikingly.  About  twenty-one  hundred  years  ago  the  tyran- 
nical king  of  a  mighty  heathen  empire,  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  of 
Syria,  resolved  to  exterminate  the  Jews  and  to  eradicate  Judaism 
from  their  hearts.  Thanks  to  the  fidelity  of  the  Chassidim  and 
to  the  bravery  of  the  Maccabean  family,  his  plans  were  frustrated 
and  the  defiled  Temple  of  God  was  resanctified  to  the  worship 
of  the  Most  High.  Had  Antiochus  been  successful,  had  the 
idolatrous  worship  of  Jupiter  displaced  the  worship  of  the  God 
of  Israel,  had  the  sensuous  and  immoral  rites  of  paganism  taken 
the  place  of  the  pure  and  exalted  service  of  Judaism,  had  Olym- 
pus become  mankind's  source  of  salvation  instead  of  Sinai,  had 
Greek  immorality  and  skepticism  been  bequeathed  to  us  instead 
of  the  faith,  the  purity  and  the  righteousness  of  the  Prophets  of 
Judea,  who  can  conceive  in  what  direction  mankind  would  have 
developed;  who  can  tell  what  aspect  civilization  would  have 
taken,  or  whether  civilization  would  have  existed  at  all  ? 

It  is  proper  that  we  keep  alive  the  memory  of  our  brave 
forefathers  and  celebrate  their  heroism,  their  courage,  their  faith 
and  their  martyrdom;  it  is  well  that  we  kindle  these  lights  that 
symbolize  the  victory  of  enlightenment  over  bigotry,  the  triumph 
of  true  religion  over  idolatry,  the  ascendancy  of  religious  free- 
dom over  the  slavery  of  the  mind  and  of  the  conscience.  By  doing 


42  THE    BLESSINGS   OF    RELIGION. 

so  we  learn  to  what  heights  of  unselfish  endeavor,  of  moral 
courage  and  of  heroic  achievement  man  can  rise  when  impelled  by 
the  mighty  power  of  religion.  Such  heroes  as  Mattathias,  Judas 
Maccabeus  and  Eliezer,  and  such  heroine  as  Hannah  are  the  most 
convincing  proofs  of  the  beneficent  influence  that  religion  has 
over  the  lives  of  men  and  women.  It  makes  them  superior  to 
conditions,  it  causes  them  to  defy  the  tortures  of  tyranny,  to 
have  contempt  for  suffering  and  for  death ;  it  invests  them  with 
superhuman  endurance  and  courage,  and  with  those  sterling 
virtues  of  soul  and  character  that  humanity  always  admired  and 
ever  will  cherish.  Religion  needs  no  stronger  argument  to  ad- 
vance than  to  point  to  the  fact  that  the  noblest  types  of  humanity 
were  those  who  were  inspired  by  the  spirit  of  God,  "the  infinite 
Power  that  makes  for  righteousness." 

Why,  then,  my  friends,  should  we  deliberately  cast  away 
our  sacred  heritage  bequeathed  to  us  by  our  great  forefathers, 
by  allowing  our  religious  consciousness  to  slumber  and  to  decay, 
and  by  neglecting  to  uphold  those  principles  for  which  our  ances- 
tors lived,  fought  and  died?  When  I  see  the  irreligion  that  is 
rampant  among  my  brethren,  the  irreverence  for  sacred  things 
and  institutions,  the  utter  disregard  of  the  precepts  of  the  Law, 
the  indifference  for  and  ignorance  of  our  glorious  history  and 
literature,  I  am  tempted  to  apply  to  them  the  harsh  but  true 
words  of  Moses:  "They  are  a  very  froward  generation,  children 
in  whom  there  is  no  faith!"  (Deuteronomy  XXXII,  20.) 

It  is  time  that  Israel  awake  to  a  sense  of  duty.  Chanuccah, 
with  its  sublime  reminiscences  of  an  age  when  fidelity  to  God's 
Law  was  dearer  to  the  Jew  than  life  itself,  ought  to  rekindle  the 
flame  of  religion  in  our  hearts.  The  glorious  deeds  of  the  Mac- 
cabees ought  to  fill  eveiy  son  and  daughter  of  Israel  with  pride, 
not  the  pride  that  vaunts  and  boasts,  but  that  noble  pride,  that 
self-respect  and  sense  of  honor  which  is  a  shield  against  degrad- 
ing sin  and  besmirching  vice,  the  pride  that  induces  men  to  think 
highly  and  act  nobly  in  order  not  to  disgrace  the  name  which  the 
deeds  of  former  generations  made  lustrous  in  the  annals  of  men. 
Such  pride  is  a  virtue  and  should  be  fostered  in  the  hearts  of  the 
young.  It  will  give  them  that  self-respect  which  is  essential 
to  true  manhood  and  womanhood.  Let  this  festival,  finally,  teach 
us  the  lesson  that  spirituality  is  the  soul  of  progress  and  that  if 
Israel  would  be  progressive  and  stand  on  the  heights  of  culture 
and  civilization,  his  first  and  last  care  should  be  to  cling  to  the 
religion  of  his  fathers,  the  religion  that  bestowed  upon  mankind 


THE    BLESSINGS    OF    RELIGION.  43 

its  most  precious  blessings,  the  religion  that  is  yet  destined  to 
realize  man's  fondest  hopes  and  most  exalted  ideals,  the  religion 
that  will  yet  bring  about  a  stage  of  civilization  when  human  sym- 
pathy shall  be  all  in  all  and  the  spirit  of  God  shall  rule  supreme. 

AMEN. 


WORK— A  DUTY  AND  A  BLESSING. 


TEXT:— "Man  goeth  forth  unto  his  work  and  to  his  labor  until  the 
evening."— (Psalm  CIV,  23.) 

The  following  legend  is  related  by  our  sages :  When  Adam 
heard  the  Holy  One  (blessed  be  His  name)  pronounce  the  awful 
sentence:  "Cursed  be  the  ground  for  thy  sake.  .  .  .  And 
thorns  and  thistles  shall  it  bring  forth  to  thee,  and  thou  shalt  eat 
the  herbs  of  the  field,"  he  began  to  weep  bitterly  and  said,  "O 
Sovereign  of  the  world !  Am  I  doomed  to  eat  with  my  beast  of 
burden  out  of  the  same  crib?"  But  when  God  further  said: 
"In  the  sweat  of  thy  face  shalt  thou  eat  bread,"  Adam  was  at 
once  comforted  and  cheered.  (Pesachim  118a.) 

In  this  piece  of  ancient  lore  a  most  useful  lesson  is  taught 
which,  when  universally  accepted,  would  solve  many  a  problem 
that  is  now  vexing  humanity.  We  are  shown  here  that  labor  has 
been  ordained  by  the  Creator  as  man's  destiny,  that  toiling  and 
tilling  at  first  conceived  by  Adam  as  a  curse,  proved  to  be  one  of 
the  greatest  boons  which  God  bestowed  upon  man.  This  truth 
which  the  Rabbis  of  old  represent  as  having  been  proclaimed 
over  the  very  cradle  of  humanity  is  far  from  being  understood 
and  acknowledged  even  now  by  the  human  family.  We  speak 
of  work  as  of  a  dire  necessity.  We  say,  man  must  work  or  else  he 
would  perish  of  hunger  and  of  exposure.  By  their  dissatisfied 
miens  and  cheerless  countenances  some  people  seem  to  show  that 
they  consider  labor  as  a  necessary  evil.  We  hear  people  complain 
of  the  burdens  that  the  struggle  for  existence  imposes  upon  them, 
of  the  incessant  toil  which  the  taskmaster  Necessity  demands  of 
them.  Like  bondmen,  driven  to  their  daily  tasks  by  the  whip 
of  imperious  Want,  some  labor  with  heavy  hearts,  hoping  all  the 
while  for  some  streak  of  luck  by  which  they  might  be  liberated 
from  this  slavery  and  enter  the  happy  leisured  class.  Some  dream 
of  a  Utopia  where  labor  and  toil  are  unknown,  where  the  joys 
and  comforts  of  life  come  to  all  without  any  effort  or  exertion, 
and  where  the  divine  sentence  "In  the  sweat  of  thy  face  shalt 
thou  eat  bread"  is  changed  to  read  "In  ease  and  tranquillity 
shalt  thou  enjoy  all  that  thy  heart  desires!" 


WORK — A    DUTY    AND    A    BLESSING.  45 

This  view  of  labor  is  pernicious  and  productive  of  evil  and 
a  great  deal  of  unhappiness.  It  causes  the  laboring  class  to 
be  dissatisfied  with  their  lot  and  to  envy  the  idle  rich.  It  changes 
the  workman  from  a  self-respecting  and  contented  man  into  a 
rebellious  and  grumbling  drudge.  It  promotes  strikes  and  is 
the  chief  cause  of  the  troubles  that  now  exist  between  capital 
and  labor.  Why  is  it  that  labor  is  sullen  and  discontented? 
Why  is  it  that  the  social  system  is  being  threatened  with  collapse 
by  reason  of  the  continual  strife  between  the  men  of  muscle  and 
the  men  of  money  ?  Why  has  the  cheer  and  the  mirth  that  for- 
merly characterized  artisans  given  way  to  gloom  and  despair? 
Because  a  dangerous  and  false  doctrine  has  been  preached  by 
the  exponents  of  socialism  and  the  leaders  of  labor,  according  to 
which  work  is  a  curse — an  evil  and  an  abnormal  condition  of  man. 
If  labor  is  an  irksome  task  then,  of  course,  it  must  be  reduced  to 
a  minimum,  and  men  should  try  to  free  themselves  from  its  yoke. 
If  labor  is  a  calamity,  then  the  laborer  may  justly  deem  himself 
the  victim  of  the  idle  capitalist  under  whose  heel  he  groans.  We 
can  readily  see  how  such  doctrine  when  spread  among  the  un- 
thinking masses  must  cause  discontent,  envy  and  misery. 

But  there  are  other  ways  in  which  this  unjust  view  of  labor 
has  a  mischievous  effect  upon  society.  A  young  man  starts  upon 
a  career.  He  yearns  to  be  successful,  to  earn  wealth  and  fame. 
To  accomplish  this  he  knows  he  must  put  his  shoulders  to  the 
wheel  and  exert  all  his  powers  in  a  certain  line  of  activity. 
Whether  it  be  a  trade,  a  profession  or  some  mercantile  pursuit 
which  he  undertakes,  he  soon  learns  that  success  is  the  reward  of 
labor.  However,  his  eye  is  directed  chiefly  upon  the  reward, 
while  the  effort  which  must  precede  it  is  looked  upon  as  an  un- 
pleasant necessity.  He  longs  for  success,  but  would  fain  reach  it 
by  some  flowery  path  of  ease  and  leisure.  He  does  not  love  the 
work  for  its  own  sake,  but  merely  as  a  means  to  an  end.  What 
is  the  result?  Neglecting  to  put  his  soul  and  his  affection  into 
his  occupation  his  efforts  are  vain,  and  either  he  ends  in  failure 
or,  which  is  by  far  worse,  he  goes  astray  in  the  forbidden  bypaths 
that  promise  a  harvest  without  toil;  thinking  that  shrewdness 
will  compensate  for  honest  work,  he  wakes  up  one  day  and  finds 
disgrace  added  to  failure. 

This  view  of  labor  which,  as  we  attempted  to  show,  is  pro- 
ductive of  evil  and  misery,  is  decidedly  against  Scripture  and 
against  the  teachings  of  Israel's  sages.  When  man  was  placed 
into  the  Garden  of  Eden,  he  was  commanded  to  till  it  and  to 


46  WORK — A    DUTY    AND    A    BLESS  INC. 

guard  it,  from  which  we  can  learn  that  happiness  is  impossible 
without  exertion  and  work.  In  the  Book  of  Psalms  we  read, 
"When  thou  eatest  the  labor  of  thy  hands  then  wilt  thou  be 
happy,  and  it  shall  be  well  with  thee."  (Psalm  CXXVIII,  2.) 
"Sweet  is  the  sleep  of  the  laboring  man"  is  another  beautiful  sen- 
tence found  in  the  Bible.  (Ecclesiastes  V,  11.)  "Seest  thou  a  man 
diligent  in  his  work?  He  shall  stand  before  Kings."  (Proverbs 
XXII,  29),  says  the  royal  philosopher  of  Israel.  Thus  we  see 
that  Scripture  characterizes  work  as  a  blessing  and  as  a  moral 
duty.  The  Talmud  is  even  more  pronounced  in  its  glorification 
of  labor.  "Greatly  esteemed  is  labor,  for  it  ennobles  the  work- 
man" (Nedarim  49b)  is  one  of  the  Talmudic  sayings.  "To  live 
by  toil  is  of  greater  worth  than  idle  piety  (Berachoth  8a)— a 
lesson  to  those  who  in  their  eagerness  for  spiritual  attainment 
neglect  the  fundamental  duty  of  work.  "Love  toil  and  hate 
dominion"  is  the  wholesome  advice  of  the  sages.  (Aboth  I,  10.) 
"Man  should  love  work  because  it  is  a  part  of  the  divine  cov- 
enant as  expressed  in  the  Decalogue :  ' '  Six  days  shalt  thou  labor 
and  do  all  thy  work."  "God  caused  not  His  Shechinah  to  rest 
in  Israel  till  they  merited  it  by  their  labor  in  building  the 
tabernacle."  (Aboth  of  R.  Nathan.)  Nor  did  our  teachers  make 
any  distinction  between  one  pursuit  and  another;  all  are  honor- 
able as  long  as  they  are  honest. 

"O  strip  a  carcass  in  the  street 
And  take  your  pay  for  labor  sweet, 
And  say  not,  'I  am  a  priest  or  king, 
And   'neath  my  honor 's  such  a  thing !  '  " 
(Baba  Bathra  llOa,  Rev.  Isidore  Myer's  translation.) 

Many  of  the  Rabbis  taught  this  high  regard  for  labor  not 
only  by  precept,  but  also  by  example  Many  of  them  divided 
their  time  between  the  study  of  the  Law  and  the  earnest  pursuit 
of  some  humble  trade.  Thus  we  read  that  Hillel  at  one  period 
of  his  life  was  an  ordinary  day-laborer,  Rabbi  Akiba  a  wood- 
carrier,  Rabbi  Joshua  a  smith,  Rabbi  Joseph  a  miller,  Rabbi 
Sheshet  a  carpenter,  and  Rabbi  Johannan  was  proud  of  his  name 
"the  Shoemaker."  In  later  times,  too,  some  of  the  greatest  men 
in  Israel  supported  themselves  by  arduous  labor.  Menasseh  Ben 
Israel  was  a  printer,  Baruch  Spinza  a  lensemaker,  and  Moses 
Mendelssohn  a  bookkeeper. 

The  fact  that  labor  is  a  divine  law  is  in  itself  a  proof  of  its 
beneficent  purpose,  for  we  believe  God  is  loving  and  merciful 
and  He  would  not  subject  His  creatures  to  a  perpetual  state  of 


WORK — A    DUTY    AND   A    BLESSING.  47 

misery.  Knowing  that  it  is  God's  will  that  we  live  not  a  life  of  in- 
dolence and  leisure,  but  one  of  activity  and  service,  we  ought  not 
to  look  upon  labor  as  an  unpleasant  task  which  we  would,  if  we 
could,  avoid  and  shirk,  but  as  a  welcome  employment  suitable 
to  our  nature  and  conducive  to  our  well-being.  Experience  con- 
firms our  a  priori  reasoning  in  this  matter.  Toil  is  productive 
of  health  of  body  and  of  soul.  You  remember  the  beautiful 
lines  of  Longfellow: 

"The  smith,  a  mighty  man  is  he, 
With  large  and  sinewy  hands; 
And  the  muscles  of  his  brawny  arms 
Are  strong  as  iron  bands. ' ' 

Activity  makes  people  strong,  healthy  and  happy.  One  of 
the  great  blessings  that  God  granted  to  man  is  that  within  cer- 
tain limits  the  more  he  does  the  more  he  is  capable  of  doing.  The 
most  cheerful  people  are  those  who  are  always  occupied  in  some 
useful  employment;  while  the  indolent  and  idle  are  always  in  a 
morose  state  of  mind  and  in  a  torpid  condition  of  body.  Let  us 
not  envy  the  lot  of  those  who  have  nothing  to  do.  They  know 
not  the  sweet  rest,  the  refreshing  sleep,  the  vigorous  health  that 
is  the  share  of  the  toilers.  Time  is  heavy  upon  their  heads,  and 
the  round  of  continuous  amusements  with  which  they  spend  the 
day  soon  fails  to  satisfy  their  cravings.  They  try  to  kill  time, 
but  eventually  time  kills  them.  There  is  no  worse  torture  than 
that  of  ennui.  Can  you  imagine  the  miseries  of  a  man  who, 
rising  in  the  morning,  can  look  forward  to  no  task  or  purpose 
but  that  of  satisfying  his  animal  appetites?  Is  he  not  far  in- 
ferior to  the  servant  that  attends  to  his  needs — nay,  to  his  horse, 
that  bears  him  on  his  pleasure  haunts?  All  the  forces  of  nature 
condemn  the  idle  man.  The  rushing  brook,  the  rustling  leaves, 
the  budding  flowers,  the  driving  clouds,  the  chirping  birds — all 
seem  to  mock  him  and  to  urge  him:  "Do  something!  live  for 
something!  He  who  does  not  work  has  no  right  to  live!" 

Morally,  too,  labor  has  a  beneficent  mission.  Busy  people 
have  no  time  to  indulge  in  evil  thoughts  or  in  evil  deeds.  Idle- 
ness is  the  mother  of  crime.  "The  Devil  tempts  the  idle  man" 
is  a  Turkish  proverb.  "Ennui,"  says  a  writer,  "has  made  more 
gamblers  than  avarice,  more  drunkards  than  thirst,  and  perhaps 
as  many  suicides  as  despair."  If  you  would  drive  one  to  a  life 
of  sin  and  evil  give  him  a  chance  to  be  idle.  Would  you  have 
your  children  moral,  virtuous  and  upright  ?  Teach  them,  first  of 
all,  the  lessons  of  industry  and  diligence. 


48  WORK — A    DUTY   AND    A    BLESSING. 

Having,  as  I  hope,  established  the  fact  that  work  is  a  divine 
duty,  a  law  of  nature,  and  a  source  of  blessing  and  of  moral  im- 
provement to  man,  I  must  nevertheless  admit  that  there  is  labor 
which  is  neither  a  pleasure  nor  a  blessing.  We  know  that  many 
groan  under  the  burden  of  toil.  Why  is  this?  There  is  such 
a  thing  as  excess  in  labor,  and  work  can  be  abused  as  well  as  any 
other  blessing.  Our  forefathers  in  Egypt  cried  to  God  because 
of  the  heavy  labor  which  the  tyrant  imposed  upon  them.  To- 
day, too,  some  are  in  such  soul-killing  bondage.  Far  be  it  from 
me  to  condemn  all  complaining  workmen  as  indolent.  There  are 
unfavorable  conditions  which  render  toil  almost  unbearable. 
There  are  employers  that  oppress  their  employees  and  take  ad- 
vantage of  the  helpless  poverty  of  those  who  live  by  their  handi- 
work. Some  employers  treat  the  workmen  with  contempt  and 
cruelty.  They  demand  the  most  labor  for  the  least  wages,  and 
fail  to  recompense  honest  toil  by  its  deserving  reward.  The 
economic  slavery  under  which  he  suffers  does  not  conduce  to  the 
happiness  and  the  welfare  of  the  unfortunate  drudge.  These 
conditions  are  artificial  and  not  ordained  by  God.  The  divine 
law  requires  that  the  laborer  be  duly  and  fully  paid  for  his 
labor;  that  he  be  treated  with  respect  and  kindness.  Both  em- 
ployer and  employee  must  be  impressed  with  the  truth  that  labor 
is  a  divine  law,  and  that  each  must  treat  the  other  not  as  an 
enemy,  but  as  a  confederate  in  the  fulfilment  of  man's  destiny. 
Let  the  workman  put  his  love  and  his  affection  into  his  work  and 
let  the  employer  honor  the  laborer  who  does  his  duty  with  fidelity 
and  industry. 

One  more  point  we  should  notice  on  this  subject.  While  it 
is  our  duty  to  work,  we  must  see  to  it  that  we  work  for  a  noble 
purpose.  Let  us  not  devote  all  our  energies  to  the  accumulation 
of  worldly  treasures  which  do  not  satisfy  the  heart  and  the  soul. 
Our  labor  must  have  a  higher  motive  than  the  selfish  and  sordid 
purpose  of  those  who  toil  only  to  heap  up  wealth  or  struggle  for 
the  fading  laurels  of  honor.  Let  us  endeavor  to  do  something 
for  truth,  for  righteousness,  for  the  cause  of  God  and  the  good 
of  our  fellowmen.  Then  our  toil  will  have  an  everlasting  re- 
ward. Let  us  work  for  the  elevation  and  improvement  of  our 
character.  Let  us  never  cease  to  clear  the  weeds  of  sin  and  of 
passion  from  the  garden  of  our  soul  and  cultivate  in  it  the 
flowers  of  virtue  and  of  goodness.  To  stand  still  means  retro- 
gression and  degeneration.  We  must  increase  our  knowledge, 


WORK — A    DUTY   AND    A    BLESSING.  49 

strengthen  our  power  of  self-control,  and  steel  our  capacity  to 
withstand  temptation. 

Let  us  work  to  advance  the  welfare  of  our  neighbors.  There  is 
no  more  blessed  occupation  in  the  wide  realm  of  human  activity 
than  to  ameliorate  the  pangs  and  pains  of  our  suffering  fellow- 
men.  What  a  glorious  privilege  is  it  to  be  enabled  to  help  those 
who  cannot  help  themselves !  What  an  exquisite  delight  to  feel 
that  some  one  is  relieved  because  of  our  assistance,  that  some  one 
blesses  us  for  our  benevolence.  It  is  a  most  blissful  conscious- 
ness to  know  that  we  do  not  live  in  vain,  that  the  world  is  better 
and  happier  because  of  our  little  share  of  uplifting  work.  If 
God  has  endowed  you  with  faculties,  use  them  for  the  benefit  of 
those  not  so  endowed;  if  your  portion  is  a  blessed  one,  share  it 
with  the  poor  and  the  needy. 

And  finally,  let  us  work  for  our  religion.  There  are  those 
who  think  that  religion  is  a  sentiment,  not  a  duty;  who  believe 
in  a  comfortable  and  easy-going  faith  which  imposes  no  burdens 
and  exacts  no  obligations.  Let  me  assure  you  that  there  is  no 
flowery  path  to  heaven.  If  our  religion  is  worth  anything  at 
all  it  is  worth  our  best  efforts  and  most  earnest  labors.  Religion 
means  service.  Passive  sentiments  do  not  go  far  unless  they  be 
springs  for  action.  "Seek  the  Lord," — that  is  the  prophet's 
appeal.  We  must  worship  Him,  keep  His  commandments  and 
bring  sacrifices  upon  His  holy  altar.  We  owe  loyalty,  fidelity 
and  obedience  to  our  God.  We  have  obligations  to  our  religion 
and  to  our  co-religionists.  We  should  help  others  to  walk  on 
the  path  of  duty  and  righteousness.  Particularly  should  we 
exert  our  energy  to  initiate  our  children  in  the  fear  of  God  and 
inspire  them  with  love  for  His  holy  law.  "And  thou  shalt  teach 
them  diligently  unto  thy  children,"  is  the  divine  command. 

All  these  duties  should  be  performed  by  us  not  as  burden- 
some tasks,  but  as  delightful  service.  "Serve  the  Lord  with 
joy."  Pervaded  by  the  truth  that  service  is  the  law  of  life,  that 
labor  is  the  duty  and  privilege  of  man,  that  there  is  no  more 
brilliant  diadem  than  the  ' '  crown  of  service, "  let  us  do  our  duty 
in  whatever  sphere  God  has  placed  us  with  energy,  with  love  and 
with  a  joyous  heart.  Let  us  ever  remember  the  words  of  Goethe : 

"Best  not,  life  is  sweeping  by; 

Go  and  dare  before  you  die — 

Something  mighty  and  sublime 

Leave  behind  to  conquer  time." — AMEN. 


REST. 


TEXT:— "For  what  hath  man  of  all  his  labour,  and  of  the  vexation  of 
his  heart,  wherein  he  hath  laboured  under  the  sun?  For  all  his  days  are  sor- 
rows, and  his  travail  grief ;  yea,  his  heart  taketh  not  rest  in  the  night.  This 
is  also  vanity."— (Ecclesiastes  II,  22,  23.) 

EVERY  blessing  can  be  turned  into  a  curse  by  abuse.  Work 
which  we  described  in  our  last  week's  lecture  as  a  boon  has  fre- 
quently been  changed  by  man's  folly  into  a  bane.  When  work 
is  carried  to  excess  it  becomes  drudgery,  which  is  of  benefit 
neither  to  the  body  nor  to  the  soul.  Why  is  slavery  acknowl- 
edged by  all  civilized  men  to  be  an  evil  ?  Because  under  its  sys- 
tem the  toiler  is  degraded  to  a  beast  of  burden  by  over-work. 
Whether  such  servitude  is  exacted  by  a  taskmaster  with  a  whip  in 
his  hand  or  by  man's  own  insatiable  avarice,  it  is  productive  of 
the  same  bad  results.  Human  nature  is  so  constituted  that  no 
effort  can  be  continued  for  a  long  while  without  rest.  Rest  is 
essential  to  our  welfare.  When  you  observe  the  operations  of 
nature,  that  eternal  textbook  of  humanity,  you  will  see  that  the 
lesson  of  rest  is  taught  as  plainly  as  the  lesson  of  activity.  The 
alternation  of  day  and  night  is  an  indication  that  toil  must  be 
followed  by  beneficent  repose.  The  seasons  of  the  year,  too, 
proclaim  the  same  law.  In  winter  nature  is  at  rest;  under  the 
blanket  of  snow  and  frost  seed  and  bud  sleep  their  long  night, 
gathering  strength  for  the  re-awakening  of  spring.  The  ocean 
has  its  floods  and  tides,  its  storms  and  calms.  The  atmosphere 
also  is  sometimes  stirred  by  tempestuous  winds;  at  other  times 
lulled  to  rest  by  gentle  zephyrs. 

If  man  would  turn  an  attentive  ear  to  these  hints  of  nature 
and  wisely  divide  his  time  between  labor  and  rest,  he  would  at- 
tain to  more  happiness  than  is  the  average  share  of  mortals.  We 
are  sorely  in  need  of  the  lesson  of  rest— perhaps  more  so  than  of 
the  lesson  of  work.  The  besetting  sin  of  this  age  is  not  so  much 
indolence  as  over-work.  It  is  an  age  of  hustling  and  striving, 
of  hurry  and  bustle.  Especially  are  we  Americans  guilty  in  this 
respect.  A  distinguished  foreigner  once  remarked  that  when  the 
American  travels  he  races.  He  can  be  recognized  by  his  careworn 
look,  his  jostling  ways,  and  by  the  air  of  business  that  always  sur- 


REST.  51 

rounds  him.  Even  while  abroad  for  amusement  he  tries  to  "take 
in"  as  much  sight-seeing  as  possible  within  the  shortest  period  of 
time.  The  habit  of  being  in  haste  has  become  his  second  nature 
and  accompanies  him  wherever  he  goes.  It  may  be  that  the  great- 
ness, the  progressiveness,  and  the  prosperity  of  this  country  are 
due  to  this  our  national  characteristic.  Look  at  our  gigantic 
enterprises,  at  our  commerce,  at  our  industries,  at  our  inventions ! 
They  are  the  wonder  and  envy  of  the  world.  Although  the 
youngest  nation,  America  is  one  of  the  leading  powers  and  the 
foremost  in  wealth  and  commerce.  This  greatness,  no  doubt,  is 
partially  the  result  of  the  aggressive,  the  restless,  and  the  wide- 
awake spirit  of  our  people,  which  stops  at  no  obstacle  and  knows 
no  barriers  in  its  rapid  course  of  progress. 

But  it  is  to  be  feared  that  this  very  virtue  of  the  American 
will  eventually  bring  suffering  and  ruin  upon  him.  It  has  been 
truly  said  that  the  American  works  himself  to  death.  Physically, 
mentally  and  morally  he  is  bound  to  deteriorate  because  of  this  in- 
ordinate strenuosity.  There  are  probably  more  people  suffering 
from  all  kinds  of  nervous  diseases  in  this  country  than  anywhere 
else  on  the  face  of  the  globe.  The  American  lives,  works,  eats,  sleeps 
and  dies  in  a  hurry.  While  yet  in  middle  age  he  looks  haggard 
and  worn  out ;  his  hair  becomes  gray,  his  eyes  dim  prematurely. 
His  sins  against  the  laws  of  nature  are  visited  upon  his  innocent 
children.  They  inherit  a  predisposition  to  nervousness  and  start 
in  life  with  the  terrible  disadvantage  of  a  weak  and  frail  con- 
stitution. This  is  a  serious  menace  to  the  future  of  this  Republic. 
Rome  sank  from  the  highest  pinnacle  of  power  to  ruin  and  de- 
struction because  of  the  degeneracy  and  effeminacy  of  her  people. 
Those  whom  she  designated  as  barbarians,  possessed  of  sturdier 
strength  and  hardier  manhood,  wrested  the  sceptre  from  her 
hands.  Let  America  take  the  warning  and  benefit  by  the  lesson 
that  history  imparts.  We  must  curb  our  ambitions  and  allow 
ourselves  more  rest,  more  repose,  more  recreation,  more  change 
from  this  constant  slavery  in  the  treadmill  of  money-making. 
Let  us  take  time  to  live  and  then  we  will  live  happier  and  longer. 

This  failing  of  the  American  can  likewise  be  laid  at  the 
door  of  the  Jew.  Ages  of  persecution  have  sharpened  his  intel- 
lect. For  centuries  he  has  had  no  rest.  Like  a  wild  beast  he 
was  hunted  by  his  enemies  and  driven  from  place  to  place.  His 
means  of  livelihood  have  been  curtailed  by  special  and  oppressive 
laws,  so  that  he  had  to  live  by  his  wits.  This  developed  in  him 
a  marvelous  capacity  for  endurance  and  for  intellectual  labor. 


52  REST. 

He  was  constrained  to  learn  how  to  make  the  best  of  the  most 
adverse  conditions.  In  mercantile  pursuits  he  is  recognized  to 
be  a  genius.  Give  him  freedom  and  opportunity  and  in  ten 
years  the  Jewish  immigrant  starting  almost  penniless  will  have  a 
flourishing  business.  In  their  industry  and  inventiveness  the 
Jew  and  the  Yankee  are  alike.  Both  have  the  push,  the  energy 
and  the  ambition  required  to  achieve  success.  Indeed  they  wor- 
ship success.  However,  both  have  this  vulnerable  point:  they 
are  restless  and  discontented.  Prosperity  goads  them  to  greater 
exertions.  They  are  both  victims  of  over-work,  of  a  self-imposed 
slavery  from  which  none  but  death  ever  succeeds  in  liberating 
them. 

My  friends,  I  am  addressing  a  congregation  that  is  both 
Jewish  and  American,  to  which,  therefore,  this  message  of  warn- 
ing against  abusing  the  faculties  of  body  and  of  soul  by  excessive 
and  unremitting  labor  ought  to  come  home  with  double  force. 
Far  be  it  from  me  to  encourage  idleness.  Everyone  must  and 
should  work.  It  is  our  destiny,  ordained  by  God  and  by  nature. 
But  many  of  us  make  a  terrible  mistake  inasmuch  as  we  sacrifice 
the  end  for  the  means.  We  must  remember  that,  as  Spencer  once 
said,  ' '  life  is  not  for  work,  but  work  is  for  life. ' '  In  our  devotion 
to  work  many  of  us  forget  to  live.  In  this  dreadful  thraldom 
of  Mammon  we  have  lost  the  mastery  over  self.  In  our  eager 
pursuit  of  the  things  that  make  life  joyous  and  happy  we  destroy 
our  capacity  of  enjoying  the  very  objects  we  strive  for. 

What  is  the  cause  of  this  terrible  malady  which  has  befallen 
this  age  ?  Why  did  our  forefathers  have  plenty  of  time  and  for 
us  even  steam  and  electricity  are  becoming  too  slow  ?  Why  were 
our  ancestors  able  to  enjoy  rests  and  holidays  and  lived  a  happy 
and  contented  life,  while  we  consume  our  energies  with  a  fever- 
ish haste  that  is  constantly  becoming  more  and  more  rapid?  I 
imagine  many  of  you  are  ready  with  an  answer.  "Competition 
is  greater  than  it  ever  was. "  This  is  certainly  true.  While  com- 
petition always  did  exist,  and  to  some  extent  it  is  natural  and 
useful,  it  never  existed  in  such  fierce  form  as  to-day.  The  strug- 
gle for  existence  is  intense.  Without  mercy  and  without  sym- 
pathy each  pushes  ahead  as  if  for  dear  life.  No  matter  who  is 
trampled  under  foot,  no  matter  who  falls  disabled  by  the  way- 
side, the  soldier  of  fortune  marches  on  and  on  with  one  aim  in 
view :  to  win  the  battle  of  life !  The  strong  has  no  consideration 
for  the  weak.  It  used  to  be  proverbial  that  "everything  is  fair 
in  love  and  war."  Now  there  is  a  silent  understanding  that 


REST.  53 

everything  is  fair  in  business.  The  moral  standard  of  mercantile 
life  is,  to  express  it  mildly,  very  primitive.  It  advanced  but 
little  since  those  early  days  when  our  savage  progenitors,  with 
club  in  hand,  had  to  fight  with  man  and  beast  for  sustenance. 
The  struggle  has  become  more  refined  and  more  subtle  and  com- 
plex, but  not  a  bit  less  cruel  and  determined.  However,  compe- 
tition is  only  a  description  of  the  existing  conditions — it  does 
not  account  for  them.  Why  is  competition  fiercer  to-day  than  it 
ever  was? 

I  believe  the  true  reason  of  our  excessive  toiling  in  the  ser- 
vice of  the  Almighty  Dollar  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  we 
have  wandered  away  from  the  simplicity  of  life  that  character- 
ized former  times.  Luxury  is  the  Moloch  in  whose  worship  we 
consume  our  lives.  We  have  become  ostentatious  and  artificial. 
Things  that  would  have  made  our  fathers  happy  and  thankful 
fail  to  satisfy  us.  This  applies  to  our  homes,  to  our  dress  and 
to  our  mode  of  living.  Men  and  women  of  a  generation  or  two 
ago  were  satisfied  to  live  in  humble  homes  and  enjoy  modestly 
and  heartily  whatever  their  honest  toil  brought  them.  We 
scorn  to  live  like  that  to-day.  We  must  have  a  splendid  home  in 
a  fashionable  district,  filled  with  precious  objects  that  far  sur- 
pass our  means.  Our  taste  for  rich  dresses  has  developed  re- 
markably—in fact,  far  beyond  what  the  average  man's  income 
warrants.  What  formerly  would  have  been  considered  a  luxury 
in  our  times  has  become  a  necessity.  Extravagance,  showiness 
and  devotion  to  Dame  Fashion's  cult  have  complete  sway  over 
us.  It  pervades  all  classes  of  society,  the  difference  being  merely 
in  degree.  The  rich  give  the  example  and  the  poor  follow  closely 
after  them.  People  certainly  may  have  beautiful  homes  and 
fine  dresses — if  they  can  afford  it.  But  to  be  a  miserable  slave, 
to  work  and  toil  like  a  drudge,  to  have  neither  Sabbath  nor  holi- 
days in  the  constant  grind  for  money  merely  to  live  up  to  a  cer- 
tain standard  .which  a  heartless  and  soulless  society  demands,  is 
sheer  folly.  To  deprive  yourself  of  all  rest  and  recreation,  of  all 
leisure  in  which  to  recuperate  the  body  and  to  refresh  the  soul 
simply  because  your  daughter  must  indulge  in  extravagant 
dressing  like  her  rich  neighbor,  is  as  unjust  as  it  is  absurd.  To 
rack  your  brains,  to  ruin  your  nerves,  to  undermine  your  health, 
and  to  shorten  your  life  in  order  to  be  counted  among  the  mem- 
bers of  a  certain  favored  coterie  is  madness  that  borders  on  the 
criminal. 


54  REST. 

Many  people  live  beyond  their  means — this  is  the  chief 
reason  of  the  heartless  and  senseless  hustling  and  striving  ex- 
hibited in  our  age.  This  is  the  reason  why  men  work  harder  to- 
day than  they  ever  did  in  the  past,  why  they  grow  old  and  gray 
prematurely,  why  they  begrudge  themselves  those  sweet  hours  of 
repose  that  are  necessary  to  make  life  happy  and  work  a  pleas- 
ure. This  is  the  cause  of  the  prevalence  of  diseases  that  are 
ascribed  to  over-work  and  lack  of  leisure  and  recreation.  This 
is  the  cause  of  the  materialism,  of  the  lack  of  religion  and  virtue, 
and  of  the  absence  of  spirituality  which  characterizes  this  age. 
Because  men  live  beyond  their  means  they  have  to  work  beyond 
their  powers  and  to  disregard  the  law  of  God  and  the  law  of 
nature  and  of  common-sense  which  demand  that  work  and  rest 
be  properly  proportioned.  Let  us  cease  to  worship  Dame 
Fashion,  let  us  refuse  to  indulge  in  luxuries  which  our  means  do 
not  justify,  and  we  will  be  freed  from  the  curse  of  over-work. 
Let  us  return  to  nature,  live  in  accordance  with  its  dictates,  a 
simple  life  free  from  luxury  and  extravagance,  and  we  will  be 
able  to  rest  and  to  look  hopefully  and  joyously  into  the  future. 

In  Scotland  there  is  a  hill  called  Glen  Croe.  When  the 
weary  traveler  reaches  the  summit  he  sees  a  large  stone  formed 
like  a  bench  upon  which  there  is  engraved  the  motto  "Rest 
and  be  thankful."  Oh,  while  ascending  wearily  the  hill  of  life, 
we  would  incline  our  ears  to  the  beneficent  and  kindly  advice 
"Rest  and  be  thankful!"  Oh  that  we  grant  ourselves  some  re- 
spite from  his  soul-killing  bondage  which  our  insatiable  avarice 
imposes  upon  us!  Oh,  that  we  would  stop  now  and  then  in  the 
mad  scramble  for  wealth  and  be  contented  to  enjoy  modestly  and 
moderately  the  fruits  of  our  labors!  Remember,  0  ye  that  are 
driven  by  ambition  and  covetousness,  that  life  is  short,  that  if 
you  do  not  allow  yourselves  rest  the  eternal  repose  of  the  grave 
will  soon  come.  What  will  then  all  your  wealth  avail  you? 

Let  us  learn  the  lesson  of  rest.  In  the  creation  story  of 
Genesis  the  sanctification  of  the  Day  of  Rest  precedes  the  com- 
mand "In  the  sweat  of  thy  face  shalt  thou  eat  bread."  In  the 
Decalogue  labor  and  rest  are  enjoined  in  the  same  command- 
ment :  ' '  Six  days  shalt  thou  labor  and  do  all  thy  work,  but  the 
seventh  day  is  Sabbath  in  honor  of  the  Lord  thy  God."  Many 
of  us  obey  the  first  part  of  this  commandment  and  neglect  the 
second.  We  ignore  the  divinely  instituted  day  of  rest  and  crowd 
into  its  sacred  space  the  labor  and  the  toil  of  the  weekdays,  thus 
breaking  God's  command  and  undermining  our  own  happiness. 


REST.  55 

Never  was  Sabbath-breaking  as  common  and  as  flagrant  as  it  is 
to-day  in  American  Israel.  The  day  of  rest  is  violated  by  men 
and  by  women,  by  young  and  old  alike.  Not  only  do  we  thereby 
neglect  a  fundamental  principle  of  Judaism  and  shake  the  foun- 
dations of  our  faith,  but  we  sin  against  the  dictates  of  reason 
and  sink  into  the  worst  form  of  slavery.  Can  you  consider  him 
a  free  man  whose  business  holds  such  mastery  over  him  that  it 
will  not  allow  him  one  day  out  of  seven  for  rest  and  recupera- 
tion ?  Can  you  call  him  free  whose  love  for  money  is  so  strong 
that  it  stifles  every  noble  instinct  and  every  higher  aspiration? 
All  those  whose  passion  for  wealth  prevents  them  from  listening 
to  the  voice  of  reason  and  from  obeying  the  divine  command  to 
hallow  the  Sabbath  belong  to  the  category  of  slaves.  0,  where 
is  the  Moses  that  would  free  this  generation  from  the  slavery  of 
materialism  ? 

I  firmly  believe  that  a  return  to  the  faithful  observance  of 
the  Sabbath  is  the  only  salvation  from  the  destructive  thraldom 
which  holds  so  many  of  us  in  its  clutches.  Such  observance  will 
increase  our  vitality  and  augment  our  physical  powers.  It  will 
furthermore  have  a  beneficial  effect  upon  our  intellectual  devel- 
opment. To  those  who  labor  with  their  muscles  the  day  of  rest 
ought  to  bring  the  welcome  change  of  intellectual  relaxation. 
It  should  be  used  for  reading  useful  and  instructive  books  where- 
by the  toilers  may  increase  their  knowledge  and  widen  their 
mental  horizon.  To  those  who  labor  with  brains  the  Sabbath 
should  bring  a  change  of  mental  occupation,  devoting  it  to  lines 
of  thought  different  from  those  which  their  daily  occupations 
demand.  The  business  man  should  put  aside  his  ledger,  the 
lawyer  his  legal  books,  the  physician  his  medical  books  and  fill 
their  minds  and  hearts  with  new  themes  and  thoughts.  This 
change  of  mental  occupation  will  brace  up  the  mind  even  as  a 
change  of  air  refreshes  the  body. 

Finally,  the  Sabbath  will  improve  our  spiritual  condition. 
It  will  turn  our  attention  from  the  worldly  affairs  in  which 
we  are  absorbed  throughout  the  week  to  the  higher  aspirations 
of  humanity.  It  will  lift  us  from  the  lowly  valley  of  temporal 
interests  to  the  exalted  heights  where  we  come  face  to  face  with 
the  eternal  verities  of  life.  In  the  quiet  repose  of  the  Sabbath- 
rest,  freed  from  the  distracting  hurry  and  bustle  of  business,  we 
will  bestow  thought  upon  the  true  relation  of  man  to  God  and 
to  the  world.  Our  vision  will  grow  clearer  when  the  mist  of 
worldliness  is  dispelled.  We  will  lift  our  eyes  heavenward  and 


56  REST. 

Godward,  and  our  little  lives  with  their  little  ambitions  and 
strivings  will  assume  a  new  aspect.  We  will  say  with  Koheleth : 
' '  For  what  hath  man  of  all  his  labour  and  of  the  vexation  of  his 
heart,  wherein  he  hath  laboured  under  the  sun?"  "We  will  rec- 
ognize that  this  life  is  but  an  ante-chamber  before  a  more  glori- 
ous life  in  the  realms  of  Eternity.  This  knowledge  will  change 
our  motives  and  purposes.  We  will  no  longer  be  helpless  slaves 
of  passing  whims  and  passions,  but  intelligent  and  free  men  and 
women,  with  sufficient  insight  to  know  that  accumulation  of 
wealth  is  not  the  chief  aim  of  man.  We  will  then  acquire  the 
spirit  of  worship,  the  spirit  of  religion,  the  spirit  of  God. — 
AMEN. 


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